The Body politic, July/August 1984

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Number 105 • July/August 1984 • US & Canada $2 • UK £1 • Australia $1.75

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' The liberation of homosexuals

can only be the work of

homosexuals themselves."

- Kurt Hitter, 1921 -

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The World

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Reviews and Features

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Out in the City

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The publication olan advertisement in The Body Politic does not
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Mailing address The Body Politic. Box 7289. Sin A

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FOR THE SEPTEMRER 1984 ISSUE:

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2

The Body Politic is a member ol the Coalition lor Gay Rights in

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The Body Politic gratefully acknowledges a grant from the

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in-house computer services

The Body Politic is indexed regularly in

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PRINTED AND PUBLISHED IN CANADA

THIS ISSUE

NUMBER 105 • JULY 1984

31: Coming
out in the
comics

See inside Batman and Robin's
bedroom! Watch the incredible
Amazon girl-roping contest! Hear
Captain America decry homophobia!
Writer Brad Fraser traces the history of homosexuality in comic books from the
innocent Forties through the paranoid Fifties to the increasingly adventurous
present — and finds everything from S/M vampires to the first gay
(well, maybe) superhero.

7: Bust at Bud's

A grand Montreal tradition continues as 75 policemen armed with cameras raid the popular bar Bud's
and arrest 188 people. Those tired old bawdyhouse laws again. The response? Another tradition —
thousands take to the streets in protest.

23: AIDS: what's behind the headlines?

A lot of hopes have been raised by the recent announcement of the discovery of the virus HTLV-III as the
' 'cause" of AIDS . But have US researchers simply uncovered the same bug that the French did a year ago?
And is a vaccine or an "AIDS test" really on the way? Cindy Patton investigates.

37: Alter, yes, but eros?

The Toronto feminist festival was supposed to be a celebration of art about sexuality, but Chris Bearchell
wonders whether it wasn't a search for an alternative to eros — and writers Sonja Mills and Jane Smith found
the shows didn't get them very excited, either. Three views of works that certainly weren't pornography, and
so must have been erotica — whatever that might be.

35: Dancing by yourself

When it's raining men, Brian Mossop goes out onto the dance floor by himself to get wet — but he's not
dancing alone. He's in the warm embrace of fraternal gay public life. A plea for the development of our lives
outside the arena of domesticity and coupledom — or why, so Brian says, you can be a homosexual
at home, but you can't be gay there.

51: Edna and the men from Mars

When does a young woman who has a crush on her female lunch buddies, who sounds like a teenaged boy
and who believes men are strictly from Mars discover that she's not a faggot? Easy — when she figures out
she's a dyke. But first, she has to start with a picture of a zucchini....

Regular departments

4: Letters to The Body Politic
12: Chris Bearchell's "Combat Zone"
15: Glenn Wheeler's "Copwatch"
16: Network, our regular listing of gay and lesbian

groups across Canada
21: World News
24: Your summer guide to Toronto — Out in

the City, with a new map in this issue
41: Joy Parks's "Shared Ground"
42: Classified ads

See you in September

This is our last issue before we take a short break for the
summer — a break which is likely our last. Beginning
with the September issue, we're planning to put The
Body Politic on a real monthly schedule of twelve issues
a year, rather than our current ten. So, we hardly need
tell you how much we're looking forward to this last
breather. Have a good summer — we sure intend to!

The cover: Illustration from Batman
from the 30s to the 70s, Bonanza Books, New York. Design by
the same old tired designer....

THE BODY POLITIC Q JULY /AUGUST 1984 □ 3

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LETTERS

Caught in the ideological trap

Unfortunately, James Johnstone (Let-
ters, TBP, May) falls into a very common
trap in his comments on monogamy and
promiscuity. Why this antinomy? It is
indeed a "commonplace" in heterosex-
ual partiarchal ideology that there is
some kind of opposition between "fidel-
ity" and "promiscuity," between a
patriarchal monogamy and unsocializa-
ble non-reproductive desire. The latter is
often represented as irresponsible, and
thus we are caught in the ideological
trap, since we are presented with only
one other alternative. Johnstone implies
that so-called promiscuity is in conflict
with patriarchal heterosexist power rela-
tions. He posits monogamy amongst gay
couples without recognizing the differ-
ent forms of non-monogamous emo-
tional and sexual relationships some of
us are attempting in order to best suit a
lifestyle in opposition to partriarchal
ideology. As well, he fails to recognize
the complex and difficult political analy-
sis involved in areas of experience that
patriarchal heterosexism has termed
"personal."

Gay people live in a world of hetero-
sexist ideology, and it is a constant battle
for us to distance ourselves from its en-
culturation — misogyny, monogamy, fi-
delity, "masculine behaviour," etc.
There is in fact far too much support for
Johnstone's choice, although if he were
to examine the historical record he
would realize how transient monogamy
in any relationship may be. Even hetero-
sexuals tend to pay lip service only to the
serial variety.

I, too, have a lover, David, with
whom I have lived for more than ten
years. Although I initially brought with
me from my previous heterosexist mon-
ogamous relationship all the cultural
baggage that Johnstone wants to retain,
over the years David and I have explored
our relationship beyond stereotypical
masculine behaviour, the inner /outer
conflicts of monogamy and the thwart-
ing of desire. The relationships of con-
flict, non-consideration and insensitivity
which are commonly part of the ideolo-
gy of monogamy are in fact no more
than representations of a particular kind
of "masculine behaviour" which our
society fosters and encourages. I am not
arguing that all gay men are loving, ten-
der, sensitive beings, but rather that the
specificity of homosexuality is dissolved
by Johnstone into a "masculinity"
which ignores the heterosexist power
relations endemic to monogamy. In this
way his gayness is represented first as
male and only secondly as gay. In this
way the very real homosexual oppression
by heterosexual institutions is denied.

David and I have a close, warm, lov-
ing relationship with one another which
we hope will continue for decades. At
the same time, we have created a situa-
tion which no longer excludes sexual re-
lationships with other men, inside or
outside our home. Our continued strug-
gle, learning, and unlearning, now cen-
tres around the creation of a similar
milieu for concomitant love relation-
ships with other men. In other words, we
have not yet cast off all our encultura-
tion and oppression, nor have we found
perfect political expression for them, but
we're seeking an alternative to John-

stone's ideological antinomy and we're
getting there!

The interrogation of the ideological
representations of both homosexuality
and heterosexuality are vital, so that we
can avoid the misrecognition both of our
sexuality and of our social positioning
brought about by the heterosexual pow-
er relationships that Johnstone has obvi-
ously succumbed to.

Michael Eliot Hurst
Vancouver

Butch creativity

BULLSHIT to Charles Fisch's letter
(TBP, May) on the ideal relaxed gay
man. Why do some gay people feel threat-
ened by masculinity or macho attitudes?
I did not decide to walk the road of
homosexuality, which sometimes seems
an uphill trek, to choose a man wearing
a skirt. Or makeup. Or limp wrists. Or
mellow, mellow, mellow. I turned on to
masculinity, and if others think it's
sometimes a posed act, then maybe that
is their hang-up. Liberalism and accep-
tance is required by all, as much by
feminine men as by masculine men.
Feminine men will have to start playing
ball by not grouping macho or butch men
as not accepting their homosexuality.

Homosexuality is a freedom. That
freedom can only be reached by letting
everyone be.

Gay men as a group like masculinity
— face that fact, Charles. Now, if some-
one is trying to express himself in a man-
ner that's coming across posed — I guess
personally I'm still interested if it's
masculine. Not everyone can express his
inner being to the world with style. What
matters is that the guy's got the balls to
try. Let's give him a break by not calling
him stiff or dull or posed. How about
creative — in at least trying to transfer
his sexual fantasy into sexual expression,
however clumsy the result? Not every-
one wants to smile in a bar environment.

Rather than be frustrated by the
whole scene, Charles, enjoy it! Other
enlightened individuals are certainly
going to relate to your train of thought.
And probably that's why this is going to
be a wild, hot summer in the city for
every one\
Keith Sodergren
Toronto

Hold the sermon

I really wish that people like Rhonda
Naeseth (TBP Letters, March) would
spare us her opinion of men ("scum-
bags") and spare prostitutes her patron-
izing, so-called defence. As a gay prosti-
tute, I don't need anyone passing judg-
ment on my lifestyle.

While I'm glad that Ms Naeseth
agrees with TBP's reporter that sex-for-
pay should be decriminalized, her saying
that "it's a pretty crummy way to make
a buck," and her promoting sexist stereo-
types about hookers, incest and drugs
aren't helpful. Not everyone finds giving
gay sexual enjoyment for one hour per
night in return for economic freedom
from the family to be exploitative. While
my work can be difficult, I can't say I'd
rather be working for a bank.

Ms Naeseth doesn't see hookers as

4 C THE BODY POLITIC U JULY /AUGUST 1984

rebels? Has she ever heard of Stonewall!
I'm sorry she has bought the sexist view
of us as passive victims. I suggest she
find out what women prostitutes are up
to in the political arena. It might shatter
a few notions she has that sound more
"white, middle-class male" than femin-
ist to me.

Please, if you want to help prostitutes,
by all means fight the laws, the police,
the poverty — but hold the sermon. We
get that from the Moral Majority.
Robert D'Avanzo

Toronto

•

Is TBP living in the real world? Is Chris
Bearchell?

In Bearchell's article on pornography
in the March issue, she writes: "... the
prostitute negotiates... contracts, all
more or less on her own terms."

On her own terms? Have you never
heard of pimps?
David E Pinto
Montreal

Cocktails and criticism

As the individual primarily responsible
for TBP's "sitting ovation" for the
latest win in the Rob Joyce civil rights
case, I hope it's within my jurisdiction to
respond to Stan Persky's criticism of
this reportage (see TBP, June, p 15).

To begin with, part of Persky's analy-
sis was based on what seemed to be a
factual error, and it was one that I found
very disturbing. He stated that my article
commented on Joyce's "personality."
This term was even placed in quotation
marks, so that it appeared that I had
used it. In fact, my article did not at any
point refer to Joyce's personality. The
closest I came was a reference to Rob's
"political style" in the years prior to
1980. 1 admit that (as one TBP staffer
put it to me) "political style is informed
by one's personality," but surely other
considerations enter into it: the political
exigencies one is facing; the character of
one's analyses and strategies; the limita-
tions of perspective that exist in any
given historical period; and the nature of
an individual's actual position in politi-
cal affairs. Given this, I don't see that a
comment which seems to be critical of
someone's political style can be taken as
synonymous with disparagement of that
person's personality.

Still, since I've been tacitly accused of
commenting on Joyce's personality in an
unflattering way, I feel that I ought to
set the record straight on this subject. To
the best of my knowledge, Rob Joyce is
meticulously honest, fair-minded, gen-
uinely committed to gay liberation and
likeable in person; apart from this, he is
one of the few Canadian gay activists
who possesses an element of tactical
genius. Once, during the course of re-
searching one of the many stories I've
done for TBP supporting his case, I had
the unusual experience of hearing his
personal merits extolled by a former BC
Social Credit cabinet minister, radio
host Rafe Mair. Since, at the time, Joyce
was still under the shadow of the accusa-
tion that he'd had sex with a juvenile, I
took this endorsement and others like it
to be of the highest significance.

My own reference to Joyce's pre-1980
political style as "uncompromising (and)
blunt" was not an attempt to cast my lot
with those individuals on Persky's
"cocktail circuit" who called Joyce
"abrasive" or even a "sociopath." For
one thing, I wasn't under the influence
of cocktails when I wrote the offending
article; for another, the article presum-
ably took some of these same people to
task for participating in the "skepticism
and rumour-mongering" which Joyce

was forced to endure at some points in
his defence campaign. Nor were my
comments made in the context of a
search for journalistic "colour," as
Persky hypothesized. They were part of
an (incomplete) attempt to describe the
factors within the gay community that
made Joyce's current win more difficult
than it needed to have been.

Persky's article, although it was very
thoughtful and useful in general, con-
tained one implication that really
bothered me. It's dangerous, it seems to
me, to be too quick to reach the conclu-
sion that any criticisms directed toward a
given gay public figure are motivated by
the impulse to deviate from the path of
gay liberation. No doubt there are
strong elements of truth to such accusa-
tions as far as the Joyce case is con-
cerned, but all the same, neither Joyce
nor any other gay leader personifies gay
truth. Whatever critical fire such a per-
son may draw isn't necessarily aimed at
the vital organs of the gay movement
itself. Joyce happens to be an honour-
able person, but all social movements
eventually attract the sort of individuals
who will wrap the flag around them-
selves and accuse their critics of attack-
ing the flag. It's important, therefore,
that the criticism made by gay activists
of fellow activists be given fair consider-
ation, even if they are finally determined
to be the product of tactical folly (like
' ' lobbyism' ') or even of pure personal
malice.

In this particular case, I think some of
the acrimony Persky encountered might
be attributable to a dispute that took
place in Vancouver (and elsewhere in
North America) in the mid- to late-1970s.
This was debate between the first gen-
eration of post-Stonewall gay activists
(those who built the "gay movement")
and the second (roughly, those who built
the "activist gay community") over
whether the activities of the latter group
represented a new branch of gay libera-
tion or a retreat into ghetto-building and
accommodationism. If my theory on
this subject is correct, and the residual
bitterness of this often subliminal strug-
gle still lingers on in left-wing gay circles
in Vancouver, then it is a little ironic to
find Persky unwittingly reiterating one
of the very charges that characterized
that period of the city's gay history.

In any event, Persky and I certainly
agree on the major point of his article:
that Rob Joyce's case is a very important
one. If Persky feels that anyone in the
gay press has given the case short shrift,
then he's right to say so. His summary of
the gains made to date by Joyce and his
supporters was an excellent one; quite
possibly, it was far more pertinent than
my own attempt to grapple with the
sticky internal politics of the Vancouver
gay community.

In the long run, what's vital in all this
is the hope that even though gay leaders,
gay institutions and gay media may re-
ceive occasional criticism, Canadian gay
men and lesbians will have the intelli-
gence to continue their support of those
who deserve to be supported. I took the
risk of acknowledging intra-community
friction on the faith that this would be
so, and that none of the protagonists
would be harmed or embittered. If that
is not the case, the blame rests with me;
if it is the case, then, to me, a very slight
advance in gay liberation has been
made.

Richard Summerbell
Toronto

The Body Politic welcomes your letters. Send
them to us at: Letters, TBP, Box 7289, Stn A,
Toronto, ON M5W 1X9. Letters selected for
publication may be edited for length.

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6 D THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY /AUGUST 1984

THE NEWS

Police photographers get it all on film in Montreal bar raid

Clubs in 77, cameras in '84

ONTREAL — One hundred
and eighty-eight people were
arrested early on the morning
of Saturday June 2 when Mon-
treal Urban Community police
raided Bud's, a gay bar located on
Stanley Street. At midnight on the same
day, a demonstration of about a thou-
sand people, organized by ADGLQ
(association for gay and lesbian rights in
Quebec) took place at the intersection of
Stanley and Ste-Catherine streets.

About 50 morality squad officers, 15
members of the tactical force and 10
detectives took part in the raid under the
direction of detective lieutenant Claude
Lalonde.

The bar's manager, Marc Dufour,
and seven other employees were charged
with keeping a common bawdyhouse.
Police also charged 122 people with be-
ing found in a common bawdyhouse and
33 with gross indecency. Twenty- five
others were released without charge. The
legal capacity of the bar is 141 people.

A remarkable feature of the raid was
the on-the-spot use of photographers,
who took photos of each person arrested
alongside of the arresting officer. This
technique was first used in last year's
police raid on the Back Door Baths in
Toronto and seems to have been devised
to overcome the inability of officers
subsequently to identify the accused in
court, producing many acquittals. The
Montreal police seem not only to have
borrowed the technique, but also to have
refined it. Photos were taken of sur-
prised Bud's patrons before they were
arrested, and some of these were passed
on to the media. Photo Police, a weekly
crime tabloid, carried a photo of three
men together in a washroom cubicle.
Thin bars had been printed across the
eyes, but the men were still recognizable.

In the aftermath of the 1977 raids,
those arrested were required to undergo
VD tests. In the recent raid, the police
seem not to have used this tactic.

According to Lalonde, the raid was
precipitated by complaints about the
bar. The last time Montreal police car-
ried out a similar raid, in 1977 (see box),
gay activists were able to show at a press
conference that the complaints had been
filed by gay men who had been threat-
ened by the police with exposure.

The Bud's raid was preceded by a five-
week investigation by plainclothes
police, who visited the bar several times,
especially in connection with a "slave
auction" which took place the Wednes-
day before the raid. Lalonde was quoted

™° WW 1«JU»1|M s

&tt Sua. - ^m " *» Oun» a— ,

Into the streets — again: Demonstrators fill
rue Ste-Catherine June 3 to protest the ar-
rest of the "188" at Bud's bar

in Montreal's Sunday Express as saying
that Bud's was unique and that activities
that occurred there were not typical of
gay bars. "It really was a bawdyhouse,"
he was quoted as saying.

ADGLQ went to work at 9 am the
morning after the raid to organize a
response. By late afternoon and early
evening, a leaflet was being distributed
to gay businesses. The media were con-
tacted and told that gays would be tak-
ing to the streets in protest against the
police action. A group was put to work
making placards and a marshalling team

was assembled to ensure a peaceful
protest.

Within minutes after midnight, the in-
tersection of Stanley and Ste-Catherine
was completely blocked by about a thou-
sand chanting demonstrators and 1 ,500
onlookers.

With the arrival of the police anti-riot
squad at around 12:30, the demonstra-
tors started to move east along Ste-Cath-
erine, filling three blocks. The march
continued for about 30 blocks to Mont-
calm Street and finally dispersed without
incident in front of Chez Max, another
gay bar.

The annual general meeting of
ADGLQ, held June 3, voted to create a
support committee for those charged.

The committee will provide information
and legal assistance to the " 1 88. "

ADGLQ also demanded that Quebec
justice minister Pierre Marc Johnson
launch an inquiry into arrest procedures
and conditions under which those arrest-
ed were held. ADGLQ charges that the
mass arrest was an abuse of police
power, because people were arrested in-
discriminately and taken away to the
Bonsecours Street police station, where
at least 133 people spent the night sleep-
ing on floors and benches. The associa-
tion also accused police of violating con-
stitutional rights by arresting most
people without informing them of the
charge.

The application of the bawdyhouse
provisions of the Criminal Code is ex-
tremely arbitrary. Although the found-in
charge is relatively minor (it is a sum-
mary charge), individuals convicted are
liable to a fine and will carry a criminal
record, just like anyone found guilty of
gross indecency (a charge that carries a
maximum penalty of five years' impris-
onment). When the police carry out a
drug raid, they charge only the traffick-
ers, not everyone who happens to be on
the premises. The 122 people charged as
found-ins at Bud's may become crim-
inals simply because they went for a beer
or mineral water in a licenced premises.

A raid two years ago on a stag party
for police officers in Mascouche, a small
Quebec town, reveals the outrageous
disparity in the laying of indecency
charges. In that case, only the nude fe-
male dancers were charged; not a single
police officer found in that particular
"bawdyhouse" was arrested.

Bernard CourteD

Truxx/Mystique:
the lessons of 1977

It took patience, perseverance
— and sticking together

The raid on Bud's is not the first time the
Montreal police have used the bawdy-
house laws against a gay bar.

In the early hours of Saturday, October
22, 1977, more than 50 police, clad in riot
gear and armed with machine guns, burst
into Truxx and Le Mystique, two gay
men's bars in Montreal. On that occasion
146 men were arrested and charged with
being found-ins in a common bawdy-
house. The victims were held in crowded
police cells for hours without bail and
were forced to submit to VD tests. News
of the raids ripped through the gay com-
munity the following day and, in the space
of about six hours, the Association pour
les droits de la communaute gaie du
Quebec. (Quebec gay community rights
association) blanketed the bars and baths
with leaflets and organized a protest for
that evening.

By midnight, 2,000 gay people had
flooded into the intersection of Stanley
and Ste-Catherine streets. They fought
with police who were attacking the crowd,
trying to re-open the streets. The mass
demonstration was not cleared away for

about three hours. Four men were
arrested.

The raids and the angry response of the
gay community precipitated a public
furor. Civil rights organizations and the
media denounced the heavy-handed police
tactics and accused the Montreal police of
discriminatory behaviour towards the
city's gay population.

A defence committee was quickly set up
and a public meeting to discuss the
strategy of defence drew 300 people. All
but one of the 146 accused pleaded not
guilty.

Giuseppe Salvaggio, owner of Truxx
and Mystique, was singled out for pros-

ecution first. He was convicted on April 2,
1980, sentenced to ten days in jail and
fined $5,000. Two years later, the Quebec
Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's
finding that Truxx was a bawdyhouse
because men sometimes had sex in the
washrooms and all patrons were surely
aware of that, but it reduced Salvaggio's
sentence. Only then did the Crown pro-
ceed against the found-ins, whose pros-
pects looked dismal after the appeal
court's ruling.

A Crown offer to drop all charges if
four men pleaded guilty was refused.
Defence attorney Joseph Muskatel armed
himself with transcripts of the Toronto
1981 bathhouse raid trials and sheafs of
strategy briefings from Toronto's Right
to Privacy Committee, which he called
"dynamite," only to walk into municipal
court December 14, 1982 and hear Crown
prosecutor Laurent-Claude Laliberte an-
nounce he did not plan to proceed. "We
had no other choice; it was just too much
money" to bring all of the found-ins to
trial, Laliberte told the Montreal Gazette.
Besides, of the four police officials who
planned the raid, one was dead and two
others no longer lived in Quebec. The
Crown had also "misplaced" a large
quantity of relevent documents.

"This decision shows the value of stick-
ing together," Muskatel pointed out at
the time. And of stocking up on patience
and perseverance. It took five years.

TBP news staff

LITIC D JULY/AUGUST 1984 □ 7

si
<

OPERA HOUSE BUSTS

Guilty pleas smother real questions

BARRIE — All the formal actors in the
week-long courtroom drama — the
judge, the Crown attorney, the bevy of
defence lawyers — seemed to agree. Cer-
tainly, the 31 men who had been charged
last summer with gross indecency for
alleged sexual activity in the public
washroom of the Orillia Opera House
would not argue with the general, now
seemingly official, opinion: that the ac-
cused men had already been severely
punished by the process of arrest and the
devastating effect of publicity on their
personal lives. It was a little late to come
to that conclusion and it didn't stop the
legal proceedings from plodding
through to their end.

The court appearances had taken a
while to arrange — eight and a half
months, in fact. A courtroom in the Bar-
rie Courthouse had been set aside for the
entire week of May 14 to 18. County
court chief judge William Lyon was pre-
siding and John Alexander, recently ap-
pointed head Crown attorney for Simcoe
County, was handling the prosecution.

All but one of the 14 lawyers showed
up on the first morning to set a time for
their clients to appear later in the week.
Well-known local lawyer Richard Clarke
was clearly the senior counsel and he
also had taken the most cases — 14 in
all. When the judge entered the court-
room, the entire front row of black-
robed men bowed deeply in a single rit-
ual motion. Behind them sat their clients
— 30 nervous, mostly middle-aged men,
a large number of them accompanied by
their wives.

Also, this time, unlike the first court
appearance in Orillia last fall, when the
story was big news and TV camera crews
chased the accused as they exited from
the courthouse, there was scarcely a
reporter in sight.

The five days in court rolled by with-
out a hitch. All the inconvenient details
had been dropped or smoothed away to
speed up the process. There was a script;
it had all been decided beforehand in

meetings among the lawyers and with
the Crown: everyone was supposed to
plead guilty. And all but one person
eventually did so. On the first day, four
of the accused told the court they would
be pleading not guilty and would go to
trial. By the end of the week, however,
only one person was able to withstand
the tide of guilty pleas — and the
pressure of lawyers.

The final tally: 30 men pleaded guilty.
Of these, 14 got conditional discharges
and 17 got fines ranging from $200 to
$700. The man who asked for a trial —
an Orillia high-school teacher — was
convicted anyway and got a conditional
discharge. His ordeal was not to end
there, however.

A week later, the Simcoe County
Board of Education met in an in-camera
session and voted to fire him and two
other teachers for immoral criminal con-
duct. The three had been put on paid
sick leave after the charges were made
public last September. None has been in
a classroom since then. The Ontario
Secondary Teachers' Federation plans to
appeal the firings.

Crown attorney Alexander told court
that the Orillia City Police had decided
early in 1983 there was a "problem" in
the public washroom in the basement of
the Opera House. In May they requested
video-camera equipment from the On-
tario Provincial Police. In June, a cam-
era was installed in the ceiling above the
washroom cubicles. A second camera
was installed in early July to survey the
area outside the cubicles. The two
cameras operated in the washroom for
five hours a day for a period of 18 days
during the summer. An Orillia police of-
ficer watched two monitors during that
period and switched on cameras when
something appeared to be happening.

Almost all of the activity recorded by
the camera and described in court was
solitary masturbation behind the closed
doors of the cubicles. A glory hole in the
partition allowed for a glimpse of the ad-
jacent cubicle. "This is certainly not one
of the most serious offences in the

Criminal Code," admitted Alexander in
his opening remarks.

"These acts may or may not be dis-
tasteful to most people," Judge Lyons
said in his decision. It was not the homo-
sexual acts themselves that made them a
criminal offence, he said, it was the fact
that they were committed in a public
place. Lyons acknowledged that "each
of the accused has already suffered
adverse consequences as a result of ar-
rest and public controversy." Defence
lawyers all presented details on the ways
in which this public humiliation had af-
fected the lives of their clients. Most of
the men are married, many have chil-
dren, the majority are in their forties or
older. One man tried to commit suicide.
At least three men have reached retire-
ment age.

Throughout the week-long court pro-
ceedings, no lawyer questioned the use
of video cameras for the detection of
sexual offences, although a few pointed
out that it was activity verv difficult to
detect without the use of such
sophisticated equipment. No lawyer
questioned the violation of privacy in-
herent in focussing a camera on the
toilet habits of the unsuspecting public,
although at least one noted that his
client had no idea it was a criminal of-
fence to masturbate alone in a
washroom cubicle. He had thought it
was private as long as he occupied it. No
lawyer questioned the entrapment
techniques of the police, although one
commented that if his client had been
charged immediately after the first act
had been observed, he would not likely
have been charged a second time the
next day. No one questioned the cost of
the investigation, although only a few
minutes of tape ever appeared in court
as evidence in one trial. The rest of the
tape was seen only by the police, the
Crown attorney and the appropriate
defence lawyer.

Finally, no one asked what would
happen to the tape footage once the
trials were over. Would it be destroyed,
or would it go on file somewhere? When
Staff-Inspector Francis Smith of the
Orillia City Police was asked that ques-
tion, he would only say, characteristical-
ly, "We're giving no interviews on the
case, period."

In the corridor outside the courtroom
during a break, one of the accused, a

***• Mb..

Catea/fe greet

«"**,^

Pr*>*Htr

"»imtttt„y

*"" ton*, .

ackers to *ggg&!
duties ^SS-5«r

Quote of the month

"If some pea-brain finds the
Sun a danger to society,
heaven help us what else will
be deemed unsuitable for
human consumption."

— Claire Hoy, Toronto Sun
columnist, in answer to the Toronto
school board's women *$ liaison com-
mittee, which has called the Sun
"too sexist."

white-haired gentleman with a twinkle in
his eye, had an appropriate final com-
ment: "They should use some of the
money from the fines to clean up that
washroom. It's a hell of a mess."-

Ed Jackson D

RTPC trims activities,
pursues fundraising

TORONTO — It costs a lot of money to
sue Barbara Amiel, the editor of the
Toronto Sun. But the Right to Privacy
Committee is doing just that, because of
a column Amiel wrote soon after the
1981 bath raids. She suggested the RTPC
had caused embarrassment to some of
those arrested by sending letters to their
homes. That was not true — the RTPC
had written to the men in care of their
lawyers. But it caused trouble, because
gay people who read the Sun got the im-
pression the RTPC couldn't be trusted.

The Sun case is only one of the many
causes for which the RTPC has had to
collect funds. Fortunately, the group is
used to raising money. It raised $150,000
for the defence of those arrested in the
bath raids, and helped develop the legal
defences that got acquittals for most of
those charged with being found ins-in a
common bawdyhouse.

The RTPC, in cooperation with the
Gay Community Council, also started
Gay Courtwatch, an organization with
an office at Old City Hall that keeps
track of gay people who end up in court
on entrapment charges (gross indecency,
committing an indecent act, that sort of
thing). Courtwatch helps people get
legal help, and keeps count of the num-
ber of these cases that go through the
legal system.

Money and volunteers are what makes
it happen. The RTPC recently decided to
suspend formal political activity and is
making some in-house changes to help it
raise even more money. A steering com-
mittee has been set up to coordinate
fund-raising for the Amiel suit and the
other legal work the committee does —
challenging the search warrant used in
the 1982 raid on the Back Door baths,
for example. The steering committee is
also ready to act in the event of another
emergency in the community.

Glenn Wheeler

Duty-free kisses?

SHERBROOKE — A symbolic ex-
change of kisses will take place at the
Canadian-US border August 25 if Ver-
mont gay groups respond to an invita-
tion issued by the Association pour
l'epanouissement de la communaute
gaie de PEstrie (association for the
liberation of the Estrie gay community).

The participants will kiss each other
without crossing the border. The action
is sponsored by the International Gay
Association and will occur in Ontario,
Quebec, the US, Switzerland, West Ger-
many and France.

Bernard Courte, Montreal □

A few years ago, Sue Mabey, a
member of the United Church of
Canada, was training to become
a minister. She had completed the
necessary education and was
working as a "supply preacher" at St
Paul's church in Toronto until she be-
came officially ordained as a minister.
The last step in the process was a series
of interviews in Mabey's home town, or
presbytery — in Mabey's case,
Hamilton.

Mabey was going through divorce
proceedings at the time of her inter-
views, and the interview board asked
why the marriage had broken up. Mabey
told them: she had realized she was a les-
bian. The interview board decided not to
ordain her.

Sue Mabey left the church, and found
a job watering plants in offices and
restaurants.

•
That was 1980. This year, in August, the
General Council of the United Church
will meet in the small town of Morden,
Manitoba (population 3,266) for a week
of discussion and policy-making. One of
the items expected to be on the council's
agenda is a report submitted by a task
force of the Division of Ministry, Per-
sonnel and Education. The report advo-
cates the ordination of self-declared ho-
mosexuals. The big question now is not
what the council will say about the re-
port — but whether any decision will be
made at all.

The report was made public at the end
of March. In the two months since then,
word has come from the church's con-
ferences — regional areas of church
membership — that most members want
more time to consider the task force's
recommendation that homosexuality .
should not be a bar to ordination of an
otherwise fit candidate for the ministry.

One thousand delegates to the Mari-
times conference, which sends 38 repre-
sentatives (or "commissioners") to Gen-
eral Council, the highest decision-mak-
ing body of the church, voted in Sack-
ville, New Brunswick to petition for a
delay.

The Toronto conference, which will
be represented by 42 of the Council's
350 commissioners, also asked for more
time. Rev Bruce McLeod, a former
moderator of the United Church, said,
"If we move too soon we don't give any
of us a chance to hear each other and
grow."

The Toronto conference met at the
Thornhill Community Centre. The Duf-
ferin-Peel Presbytery, one segment of
the conference, presented a petition ask-
ing the church to prohibit the ordination
or commissioning of any minister "who
communicates to church courts and
committees his or her persistent and
preferential homosexual practice." The
Toronto conference is obliged to pass the
petition on to the General Council, even
if they don't approve it. One of the del-
egates at the community centre recom-
mended that the conference support the
report. The recommendation was de-
feated by a vote of 261 to 223. The
Northeastern Ontario conference voted
not to exclude gay people from the
ministry, but delegates would not en-
dorse the report, either. The Alberta
conference wants the issue delayed, and
delegates have asked for a further
report.

The Newfoundland, Hamilton, East-
ern Ontario and London conferences
have all voted against the report's rec-
ommendations. ¥he London conference
also turned down a recommendation
that called for further study.

Clearly, many people of the church do
not feel ready to make a decision. But

THE RIGHT QUESTIONS,
BUT NO EASY ANSWERS

The debate on gay ordination continues

to stymie the not-so United Church.

A report by Gillian Rodgerson

A definite maybe: Church moderator Clarke MacDonald stands pat on refusal to take a stand

the report was intended as a document
for study, a basis for discussion. Per-
haps the lack of consensus among dele-
gates is a good sign: so far, there has
been more study and discussion than
outright rejection of the report's
recommendations .

•
The United Church of Canada holds
strong positions on many sensitive
issues: nuclear disarmament, apartheid
and the interference of the United States
in Central America are but a few. United
Church Sunday schools preach about
the importance of social action as they
dole out the weekly Bible verses. Peti-
tions and letters to local politicians are
as common a sight on church bulletin
boards as pictures of the congregation's
missionary family grinning in the desert
or notices of the quilting group's next
meeting.

Clarke MacDonald, moderator of the
church for the past two years, is a strong
public advocate of nuclear disarmament
and the human rights of gay people. He
demonstrated his support of the peace
movement by publicly protesting at Lit-
ton Systems — yet he refuses to make a
public statement on the question that is
now before the church. In a way this is
the result of the position he holds — his
title is indicative of the role the church
expects him to take on questions of
church policy. Unlike most religious
organizations, the United Church has no
formal line of authority. And MacDon-
ald, although he will preside over the
August meeting of the General Council,
holds no real power: his decisions are
not binding, and neither are those of the
council itself.

The real key to the power structure of
the United Church is the laity — the

people in the pews.

•
Sue Mabey is no longer a member of the
United Church, but she has done a lot of
work to change the minds of those
people in the pews. She has lectured as
"Exhibit A," as she put it, at a number
of United churches recently, and she
says she doesn't think members of the
congregation want to know what their
ministers do in bed. She knows many
people are worried about what kind of
example will be set for "young people."
(Ministers, like teachers, are looked
upon by the general populace as role
models.) Other people have more mun-
dane worries. For example, will homo-
sexual ministers be living in United
Church manses with their lovers? Mabey
thinks that most church-goers are still
questioning the idea of ordination for
gay men and lesbians. Many of those
who are undecided but would likely op-
pose the recommendation have never ac-
tually met a gay person. They often find
they get over their objections to the idea
after talking to someone like Sue
Mabey. Another factor that changes
people's minds, Mabey speculates, is the
"bigotedness" of those openly opposed
to the report. "Sometimes the best thing
reports like this have going for them are
those against," Mabey says — and she
may be right.

•
"Those against" have certainly been
making their views clear. One of the
report's supporters is Rev Frank
Meadows, of Toronto's Fairlawn United
Church. Fairlawn has received two
bomb threats.

No one has threatened to blow up 85
St Clair Avenue East, the United Church
of Canada's head office and a much
more visible target. But members of the
church have sent letters to that address
threatening to withdraw their financial
support. Dr Anne Squire, head of the
Division of Ministry, Personnel and
Education, is in charge of replying to let-
ters about the division's report. By June
1 more than a thousand letters had been
received by the church . Some of these
were sent to the United Church Obser-
ver, an independent journal that chroni-
cles the church's activities. The Observer
forwarded the mail on to Squire's office.
Squire says the letters have been mostly
negative, and some of them homopho-
bic. But, as she points out, "Usually it's
the people who are against something
who write letters." Many letters arrived
only a few days after the release of the
report, so it appears that some detrac-
tors were reacting to press accounts of

Closeted

candidates; homo
hog farmers

Some "fast footwork*'— and
a little showing off

Many of the United Church's gay mem-
bers who consider becoming ministers
conceal their sexual preference. This
makes ordination more possible — but it
can also make life extremely painful. One
recent graduate says it's difficult to be out
in the seminary because of the "atmos-
phere of paranoia" which builds up dur-
ing the series of interviews candidates
must go through before ordination. At the
congregational, presbytery and confer-
ence levels, everyone intending to be a
candidate is questioned on a variety of
topics from theology to sexuality. In her
interviews, one woman told the congrega-

tion board she wasn't married; they re-
plied that they'd have to "marry her off,"
perhaps by "putting a sign on the lawn of
the manse." "Some fast footwork" and
changing of pronouns are required when
the gay or lesbian candidate is asked
about relationships.

One of the conditions for ordination is
that the candidate be placed in a con-
gregation. The "prevailing mythology is
that congregations won't accept a gay
minister," the graduate explained,
"especially if they think they're having a
fast one pulled on them, that they're hav-
ing this deviant plopped in their midst to
be their minister." The congregation must
trust its minister and believe the minister is
equipped to do the job. If an awareness of
sexual orientation colours the congrega-
tion's perception of their pastor, it can
make the pastor's job much harder.

When asked how being a lesbian will af-
fect her ministry, the graduate says she
has "a real identification with oppressed
people." She tries to concentrate on the

positive things being lesbian would bring
to the ministry: "I have to do that to sur-
vive," she says, "because the negatives
are so overwhelming."
•
The Manitoba gay community is making a
contribution to the General Council
meeting through a programme called
"Manitoba Experience," to be held the
weekend of August 10 to 12. The event
will allow commissioners and some
members of the press to spend time with
people involved in a variety of activities,
from hog-farming to gay liberation. The
chance to meet the "invisible Christians"
of the gay community is intended to help
commissioners get to know gay people.
"Be with them in their homes; observe
and enjoy their social life; worship with
them," says the conference brochure.
Although the tourist approach may be
questionable, the "Manitoba Experience"
may be what some commissioners need so
they can make up their minds about the
question of ordination for homosexuals

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the report. Squire notes that it was dif-
ficult to assess how many individuals ac-
tually wrote letters. (It seems that those
who oppose the report are not only vocal
but well-organized: a lot of the mail
Squire received consisted of photocopies
of a few oft-repeated negative letters.)
And a number of the letters were the
work of Pentecostal church members.

So that's the hate mail. Squire divides
the responses to the report into three
categories; the other two are "support-
ive" and "uncertain."

A researcher has been hired to analyze
the letters and present a report to the
commissioners about their contents.
Many positive letters have come from
parents and friends of gay members of
the church. Squire said that there have
also been a number of positive responses
from individual members of the Angli-
can and Roman Catholic clergy.

But the real clue to the debate at this
time is the "uncertains." Squire said
most of the uncertain letters centred
around questions of lifestyle, the rela-
tion of theology and the Bible to homo-
sexuality, and the issues of sin and sex-
uality itself. In these issues may lie the
answer to the question of the church's
marked reluctance to take a stand.

The United Church has only recently
begun to examine sexuality and human
relations in a religious context. In 1980
the church released a report on sexuality
called In God's Image. . . Male and Fe-
male. Debate over that publication is
still raging. The controversy was enli-
vened by the release of the task-force re-
port this March — a follow-up to the
1980 report. The March report is strong-
ly positive towards gay Christians.
Squire thinks that because these issues
are very new topics of study for the

church, the report is the obvious focus
of reaction.

•
One person who will be affected by the
report is a gay chaplain at a Canadian
correctional facility, who shares some of
the concerns of the "uncertains;" feel-
ing, for example, that the issue is a much
larger one than the ordination of gay
church members. It boils down to a
debate that has been carried on for years
over the authority of Scripture. Accord-
ing to the chaplain, the historical debate
has posed the literal interpretation of the
Bible against its use as a guide for faith
and life. That debate has been the basis
for other questions that have threatened
to split the church in the past: the con-
troversy in the 1930s over the ordination
of women; disagreements about the
"nature" of the ordained ministry; and
the debate over inclusive language in the

liturgy. "The church is like a peat bog
that's on fire underneath. Fires crop up
and we're upset by outbursts, but we
don't realize we're walking on coals all
the time."

The chaplain believes that the church
must solve the basic problem of the
authority of the Scripture — either by
agreeing to disagree in some way, or by
dividing in two. Otherwise, there will
always be issues that threaten a split.

At present, one group threatening to
leave if it does not get its way is the right-
wing United Church Renewal Fellow-
ship. The group is particularly strong in
British Columbia, where Affirm, the
organization of United Church gays, is
also strong. At the meeting of the BC
Conference, the two groups exhibited
rare cooperation: they both urged that
the report be discussed and settled final-
ly at Morden. Both groups believe that

10 □ THE BODY POLITIC C JULY/AUGUST 1984

the time for talk is past. A decision must
be made.

The UCRF publishes a paper called
The Small Voice. A recent issue was
titled "Healing for the Homosexual,
Healing for the Church." In this title lies
a clue to the UCRF's position. UCRF
members appear firmly convinced that
homosexuality can be "cured" and the
paper includes testimonials from five
"ex-gays" who now claim to be involved
in successful heterosexual marriages.

The view of gayness as something that
needs only a good religious experience to
"be cured" allows the UCRF to justify
its anti-gay stance. The group claims
that healing would "in the long run... be
of greater significance for the homo-
sexual person and community than what
to this point has been advocated." What
has been advocated is the ordination of
homosexuals — in effect, an end to the
United Church's homophobia.

In May, Rev Clifford Elliot of Bloor
Street United Church in Toronto wrote a
guest column in the Toronto Star, stress-
ing the importance of gay and straight
church members sitting down together
to talk. "Perhaps the best thing about
the church's report on the ordination of
homosexuals is that it will stimulate
more open discussion of homosexuality
in the churches and in society generally,"
Elliot wrote. "Christian intolerence and
discrimination against homosexuals may
not be directly responsible for the op-
pression of homosexuals in our society,
but without Christian intolerance and
discrimination, society's oppression of
homosexuals would not long continue."

•
The "Christian intolerance" to which
Elliot refers is by no means confined to
the United Church, but some denomina-
tions have fared better than others.

Overwhelmed: Ann Squire got lots of letters

The House of Bishops of the Anglican
Church of Canada, for example, has in-
formally decided that a bishop who or-
dains a gay candidate need not face cen-
sure by his peers — not exactly rampant
support for gay clergy, but certainly not
active censuring of homosexuality.

Bruce Hunter of Dignity Toronto, an
organization for gay Catholics, thinks it
is "just terrific" that the United Church
is debating the issue of gay ministers.
Asked about his church's position on
gay clergy, he speculated that the Catho-
lic Church felt "it's okay to be a bird as
long as you don't fly." Unfortunately —
likely as a result of the Pope's scheduled
visit in the fall — this attitude is chang-
ing. As TBP goes to press, it has been
discovered that two men have been fired
from the staff of St Augustine seminary.
Their abrupt dismissal was the result of a
long investigation into allegations of
homosexuality at the school.

Turning liberals into terrorists

Toronto's Allan Gardens turned out to be a great place for a demonstration against
Bill C-9. That's the legislation to set up the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, a
spy-catching agency separate from the RCMP with the power to carry out the dirty
work the RCMP has had to do illegally. The bill was organized by Solicitor-General
Robert Kaplan; the demo was organized by a bunch of anarchist groups in Toronto,
and attended by a slew of people — some disguised, some, like those below, not, and
some who weren't used to being in Allan Gardens in the daylight.

"It's blackmail," one speaker told us in the shade of the Robbie Burns statue.
"People say, 'If I don't bother them, they won't bother me.' But it isn't like that.
The wording of the legislation is so broad that even the wishy-washiest liberal can
come under their gaze. First you're a liberal and then you're a terrorist."

Bill C-9 was the hot topic in the House of Commons during the May, but as TBP
goes to press it looks likely that the bill will be passed — despite a three-day filibuster
by the NDP's Svend Robinson and a last-ditch attempt by Toronto MP Dan Heap to
stall passage.

The Opposition has managed to secure a few changes in the bill. Warrants to tap
telephones or bug premises will be good for 60 days (instead of the originally pro-
posed year) and the solicitor-general must approve warrant renewals.

If Kaplan has his way, the bill will be approved by the Commons and the Senate
before the summer recess begins June 29. □

Some people are forced out of the
church; others leave of their own voli-
tion; many fight hard to stay. Most of
the gay United Church ministers I talked
to had not revealed their sexuality to the
church. But they all say that if the
church decides against ordination for
homosexuals, they won't leave.

The prison chaplain is especially
determined to remain in the church's
fold. "I will not leave. If the church
does not accept this report, then the
church is not following the will of Jesus
Christ.... One must stay within the
church and call the church to be
faithful."

Sue Mabey has a different solution.
When she applied to become an or-
dained minister, she says, she had "no
idea that she'd be the first" self-declared
gay candidate. And she "certainly had
no intention of becoming a crusader."
In the fall of 1983 she joined MCC
Toronto as a student minister, and now
she is the part-time assistant to Pastor
Brent Hawkes. She will be licenced as an
MCC minister next May. Would she re-
join the United Church if it decides to
ordain homosexuals? "No. I have no
desire to be the test case. I would not
want my ministry under that kind of
microscope. It would be the first thing
people would know about me."

Mabey wonders if that many people
would come out even if the church does
decide in favour of ordination for gay
men and lesbians. "When it's a political
issue and human rights are at stake,
people come out," she says. "People
have a right to reveal themselves if they
want to, but it's not the most important
thing about a ministry."

•
Clifford Elliot is right in his assessment
of the value of the task force's report.
The very fact that it has put the issue of
homosexuals in the church squarely in
front of people's faces, as close to them
as the pulpit of their neighbourhood
church or beside them in the pew, is an
important beginning

Gillian RodgersonD

Gay rights back on
Manitoba's agenda

WINNIPEG —The Manitoba Human
Rights Commission has released a
package of proposed amendments to the
Human Rights Code, which the chair-
person of the commission says will make
it the most advanced human rights code
in North America. Among the many rec-
ommended changes is a section prohibit-
ing discrimination on the grounds of
sexual orientation.

If the New Democratic Party govern-
ment chooses to accept any or all of the
recommendations (they could ignore the
report completely), the amendments to
the code will probably not be introduced
in the legislature until late this year or
early 1985.

Dale Gibson, chairperson of the Man-
itoba Human Rights Commission, is op-
timistic about the acceptance of most of
the package, including equal pay for
women and the prohibiting of discrimin-
ation on the grounds of pregnancy,
criminal record and social status, but is
less hopeful about the sexual-orientation
clause. Manitoba's NDP government
may be unwilling to pass this portion of
the amendment for several reasons. The
NDP fears the public reprisal the clause
might generate — some party members
predict the bigots will come out with
their placards. This is an inopportune
time for government controversy, as the
NDP is still recovering from the public

backlash it encountered in its attempts
to legislate French language rights.

Gibson feels these fears are unfounded.
While the package was being prepared,
the commission held a series of public
meetings so that people could express their
views of the proposed amendments. At
one meeting Gibson endorsed the sexual-
orientation clause, and 50 or 60 individ-
uals and organizations made presenta-
tions in favour of the amendment —
among them the Manitoba Teachers' So-
ciety and the Manitoba Association of
Registered Nurses. Gibson said he has re-
ceived only two letters from people op-
posed to the clause.

The government might also reject the
sexual-orientation clause for financial
reasons. According to Gibson, enlar-
ging the areas of prohibited discrimina-
tion will increase the number of discrim-
ination claims and result in the need for

Optimistic: Dale Gibson, rights body head

more staff to handle the extra work.

Chris Vogel, coordinator of Gays for
Equality, fears there is little chance the
clause will be passed. There has not been
a striking case of discrimination in the re-
cent past, he says, so people will not un-
derstand the need for protection in the
human rights code. Meanwhile, Vogel
continues to try to convince the govern-
ment to pass the amendment. Demon-
strations are being planned, and gay
people are being asked to write to mem-
bers of the legislature. As well, Gays for
Equality is trying to involve other provin-
cial organizations in its efforts.

One group in favour of the amend-
ment is the Manitoba Chapter of the
College of Family Physicians of Canada.
A letter from the College of Family
Physicians to Manitoba Attorney-Gen-
eral Roland Penner outlined the general
attitudes of Manitoba doctors. The Col-
lege said that if gay people were protect-
ed from discrimination, they would be
less afraid to come out to their doctors;
detection of AIDS would be easier, and
doctors would have less problems track-
ing down carriers of venereal disease.
The Attorney-General dismissed the
physician's concerns by saying: "I
would be surprised in this day and age
that anyone would hesitate (to reveal
sexual preference) to a doctor."

One member of the Manitoba govern-
ment who is not opposed to the new
amendment is Muriel Smith, cabinet
minister for Community Services and
Corrections. She says her support of the
amendment has been known for some
time. However, she concedes that, what-
ever her opinion, she will willingly go
along with the government's decision
about the proposal.

Although the amendment package is
complete, it is not known if the govern-
ment will choose to introduce it to the
legislature. Until the entire package has
been accepted, Quebec will remain t he-
only province in Canada with a Human
Rights Act that provides legal protection
for gay people.

John Moreau, Toronto

THE BODY POLITIC L 1 JULY/AUGUST 1984 □ 11

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A big thank-you goes out to all these people for helping
make AIDS Awareness Week possible:

Dr. Alastair Clayton, Laboratory Centre of Disease Control • Dr. Randy Coates, University of
Toronto AIDS Research Project • Dr. David Day • Dr. John Derrick, Canadian Red Cross •
Nathan Fain • Dr. Mary Fanning, Ontario Advisory Committee on AIDS • Dennis Findlay •
Susan Fish, Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Culture • Anne Rochon Ford, DES Action
Toronto • Dr. Richard Fralick, Toronto Department of Public Health • Sheila Gilbert • Dr.
Norbert Gilmore, National Advisory Committee on AIDS • Jo-Anne Harper, Canadian
Hemophilia Society • Jack Layton, Ward 6 Alderman • Jay McGillivray • Bill Mindell,
Department of Public Health • Dale Muauro, Canadian Hemophilia Society • Anne Moon,
Department of Public Health • Joanne Polak • Dr. Stan Read, Hospital for Sick Children •
Dr. Evelyn Wallace, Ontario Ministry of Health • LeeZaslofsky • 519 Church Street
Community Centre • Gays In Health Care • Lesbian Phoneline • 923-GAYS • Right To
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Toronto • Cornelius • Crispins • English Flower Shoppe • Lipstick • Pinocchio's
Sandwich Workshop • Pimblett's • Together

and especially to all the ACT volunteers who put in
many extra hours to ensure the week's success.

Although AIDS Awareness Week paid for itself through
donations of time, material and money, the AIDS
Committee of Toronto still needs your financial
support. On June 30, our joint federal-provincial grant
ran out, and we need your contributions now, more
than ever, to continue ACT's work. Receipts for tax
deductions will be issued (registered charitable
organization no. 0666172-11-13).

This ad paid for by a grant from the Gay Community Appeal of Toronto.

COMBAT ZONE

CHRIS BEARCHELL

Administrative artbusters

"We would have been required by the
Theatres Act to (conduct this raid) if
they'd been showing Bambi."

— an official of the Ministry

of Consumer and Commercial

Relations in an interview with

the Globe and Mail

Curator Jane Wright had worked hard
to mount Toronto's end of the British-
Canadian Video Exchange '84 at Can-
ada's oldest artist-run centre, A Space.
It wasn't until the fourth screening in the
series, May 31, that the censor board's
axe fell.

It was an evening of tapes "dealing
with sexuality, stereotypes and self-
image," although they contained noth-
ing so controversial as nudity. The
tapes, including "Framed Youth," by
the London Lesbian and Gay Video Pro-
ject, had all been shown and the audi-
ence was filing out of the gallery when
TBP reporter Tim McCaskell noticed a
mean-looking man in a dark-blue suit
engaged in a heated discussion with
Wright. He wandered over and discov-
ered that the curator was being present-
ed with documents listing the tapes (all
those shown that evening) and equip-
ment (a $2,500 videotape player on loan
from Harbourfront Gallery) that were
about to be seized by the man and an
accomplice. Wright had been avoiding
direct confrontation with the censors for
the two weeks the exhibit had been
open. It was their move — and they'd
obviously decided to take it.

Representatives of the Theatres
Branch of the above-named ministry
had attended three earlier screenings (in-
cluding two devoted to the peace move-
ment) in the series, which was financed
by arts-funding agencies on both sides of
the Atlantic. No charges were laid at the
time of the raid, although the organizers
were told they had contravened section
38 of the Theatres Act, which requires
that they have a licenced projectionist
and that films be submitted to the censor
board. They were also told that they
could contact censor-board chairman
(sic) Mary Brown the morning after the
raid and that they might get the tapes
back, "depending on her mood." The
gallery points out that videos don't need
projectionists, as they run themselves,
"like sculpture," and that it is "inap-
propriate for the Theatres Branch to
have control over these works of art."

As TBP goes to press, the tapes and
equipment have not been returned to A
Space; nor have charges been laid.
Subsequent screenings in the British-
Canadian Video Exchange have gone
unmolested, although seizure of the
equipment forced the cancellation of
British video artist Tina Keane's sculp-
tural-installation work about the Green-
ham Common peace camp.

A Space members and supporters
were understandably shocked and out-
raged at the action against a critically ac-
claimed art exhibition. Jane Wright said,
the night of the raid, that it was "an in-
ternational embarrassment and will cer-
tainly damage the reputations of all art
institutions in the province. When the
province moves with such a heavy hand
against an art gallery, what's next? Are
they going to be judging Daintings and
drawings, too?"

While this exhibition is completely
consistent with the video work exhibited
by A Space since 1970, according to the
gallery's board of directors, this is the
first project of its scope to be mounted
and presented in Canada. The gallery
fears the intervention of the Theatres
Branch jeopardizes the future of all such
exhibitions.

In spite of the fact that censorship is a
natural issue around which the alterna-
tive-arts world could organize a com-
mon political response, many worry that
the competition fostered among artists

"When the province moves
with such a heavy hand
against an art gallery,
what's next? Are they
going to be judging
paintings and drawings,
too?"

and galleries will undermine A Space's
chances for widespread support within
the arts community.

These days, the Ontario Censor Board
operates in spite of court decisions that
it is unconstitutional unless the "com-
munity standards" by which it decides
what to censor are defined in law. Tech-
nically, the board — which is about to
be renamed, in Newspeak, the Ontario
Film Review Board — doesn't yet have
jurisdiction over videotapes. Consumer
and Commercial Relations Minister
Robert Elgie introduced legislation May
28 that he hopes will answer the court's
objections. It will also extend the
board's power to "classify, cut and
ban" videotapes.

The legislation, introduced only three
days before the raid, will not likely be
enacted before this September.

The horror of this incident is that, as
our official from the ministry noted, the
content of the tapes is irrelevant. The
censor board, riding a wave of pro-cen-
sorship sentiment, has taken upon itself
to extend its mandate to video, happy to
use a bureaucratic device to harass sus-
picious art, regardless of what that art
may contain. The prior censorship de-
manded by the board has nothing to do
with what might or might not be accept-
able according to contemporary Canadi-
an community standards — that's the
business of the Criminal Code, however
poorly those standards may be defined
there. While the obscenity provisions in
criminal law make the censor board
quite unnecessary for anyone's "protec-
tion," it remains a useful administrative,
rather than judicial, means of control-
ling what the public may see.

The re-vamping of the censor board
has been justified as a means to curb the
spread of pornographic video casettes
for home consumption. The first target
of the censors' videomania, however,
has been not under-the-counter smut,
but an alternative art gallery showing
what may as well have been Bambi.
What anti-censorship advocate could
resist saying "I told you so"? But that's
small comfort as you watch your worst
fears being realized. □

12 G THE BODY POLITIC Z JULY /AUGUST 1984

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Cheap Thrills & Blueberry Tarts

The Notso Amazon Softball League premiered Sunday, May 27, bringing what ap-
peared to be half the lesbian population of Toronto to Riverdale Park. The exhibi-
tion play put all twelve of the league's teams on the field; the games began at 10:30
and ended at 5:00. By midday the players, their friends, lovers, children and pets, as
well as a steady stream of passers-by, had taken over the park. Riverdale turned into
the mythical land of the Amazons for a day.

The NASL is Toronto's first lesbian sports league, and this is its first summer. The
response the organizers received went far beyond anything they had expected, and
more than 200 women signed up. The league has accepted as many members as it can
accommodate for this season (sorry, there's no room for you even if you are just a
little dyke who doesn't take up much space), but names are being placed on a waiting
list, and cheerleading squads are now under construction.

With a guiding hand from the "Notso Collective," twelve regular-season games
have been scheduled for Sunday afternoons at four locations across the city, fol-
lowed by playoffs beginning in the middle of September and an end-of-season
awards banquet. While they don't intend to provide the Salukis, Toronto's lesbian
hot-shot team, with any serious competition, the Notso Amazons who played in last
Sunday's games demonstrated that they can play a good game of baseball.

This is definitely a league with character. Teams originally labeled "A," "B," "C"
and so on have renamed themselves "Cheap Thrills," "Cruisers," "Bats Out of
Hell" and "Blueberry Tarts" (the precise meaning of this name escapes even the
team members right now).

Traditional softball rules have been altered slightly to make the game fit the
league. For the benefit of those who haven't hit a ball since grade three, for example,
the umpire may step in and keep the pitching speed down. Base stealing is allowed,
which lets the real athletes impress the bejesus out of everybody else. In the exhibi-
tion games not much attention was paid to formalities, and socializing tended to take
over. In game number two, one base runner recognized a friend on the bag, and they
met in a big hug on first base while the ball rolled away along the grass.

The league's name is a bit misleading — a lot of these "notsos" are genuine
Amazons. A blonde in red sunglasses made a particularly strong showing Sunday,
playing at least two and a half positions at once, base coaching the rest, and in-
timidating the other team's pitcher into throwing exclusively to her feet or over her
head. She had someone else do her running for her, but this is a temporary situation
— she dropped her 550cc four-cylinder Honda on her leg just before the last prac-
tice, and it will take a few weeks to heal.

Come out and catch a few games — and a few rays — some Sunday. The games
are free, and the company is the best in town. Lee Waldorf □

Customs seizure case
to test rights charter

OTTAWA — The constitutionality of a
portion of the federal Customs Tariff Act
that authorizes customs officers to seize
material they deem immoral or indecent
has been upheld by an Ontario county
court. Jean-Louis Cote, an Ottawa writer
and translator who is challenging the law,
says he will likely appeal, but has not
made a final decision.

The story began March 28, 1983,
when an Ottawa airport customs officer
searched Cote's carry-on bag after he
debarked from a flight from New York.
The officer found and seized ten erotic
magazines for gay men. "The whole

thing was shocking," says a still angry
Cote. "He wanted to embarrass me. He
held up the magazines for the whole
crowd to see." When Cote challenged
the officer, he was told, "My word is
final here." It was only with great diffi-
culty that he secured a receipt for the
magazines and the information that the
seizure could be appealed.

Cote filed an appeal and received a
notice from the Department of National
Revenue dated April 29 informing him
that two of the magazines would be
returned to him, while the other eight
were found to be "correctly classified as
immoral and indecent."

Cote decided to take the matter to
court. Joseph Magnet, a professor of
law at the University of Ottawa, took
the case, which was heard December 1
by Ontario county court judge D L

Mc William.

Instead of challenging the finding that
the eight magazines are immoral and in-
decent, Magnet argued that Item
99201-1 of Schedule C of the Customs
Tariff Act, which prohibits the importa-
tion of material "of an immoral or inde-
cent character," contravenes Section
2(b) of the Charter of Rights and Free-
doms. The section sets forth "freedom
of thought, belief, opinion and expres-
sion, including freedom of the press and
other media of communication" as a
fundamental freedom, "subject only to
such reasonable limits prescribed by law
as can be demonstrably justified in a free
and democratic society."

Magnet maintained that the vague
terms "immoral" and "indecent" fail to
meet the constitutional requirement that
limits be prescribed by law, since a
citizen cannot determine with certainty
what is deemed immoral or indecent.

In his decision, released May 15, 1984,
McWilliam acknowledged that the eight
magazines depicted "explicit homosex-
ual acts and virtually nothing else." But
he ruled that the words "immoral" and
"indecent" do have a meaning, deriva-
ble from the community standard of tol-
erance and that, therefore, their use in a
law does constitute prescription by law.

"Judge McWilliam's view appears to
be, in practice, that tolerance applies
only to a certain number of things that
already enjoy wide public sanction,"
says Cote. "Why did our government
see fit to drag the Queen out in the rain
to sign the Charter of Rights in 1982? If
we really needed for our freedom no
other guarantee than community toler-
ance, then hadn't we Canadians already
enjoyed that for over a hundred years?"

Magnet describes the case as "very
clean" and regards the judgment as
highly appealable. "This law gives arbi-
trary and unlimited discretion to border
guards," he says. "It's arbitrary, irra-
tional and chaotic and cannot be consid-
ered a limit prescribed by law."

So far, the costs of pursuing the case
have been borne by both Cote and
Magnet. Readers are invited to send
donations or letters of support to The
Body Politic Fund, Box 7289, Stn A,
Toronto, Ontario M5W 1X9. Please
make cheques payable to "Lynn King in
trust for Cote." (The directors of the
former Body Politic Free the Press Fund
have agreed that money collected by the
fund can now be applied to other censor-
ship cases.)

Cote has until July 15 to appeal.

Ken Popert, TorontoD

Complacency threatens AIDS group

TORONTO — The AIDS Committee of
Toronto (ACT) outdid itself during AIDS
Awareness Week, June 4 to June 10,
organizing an ambitious slate of four
public forums, a press conference, open
houses and four benefit bar nights.

The forums, held on consecutive
nights, were entitled "AIDS: an Update
for Health Personnel," "The New
Virus: What the Discovery Means,"
"Women Talking about AIDS," and
"Hemophilia — How it Concerns us
All." Featured speakers included Dr
Alastair Clayton, director-general of the
Laboratory Centre for Disease Control,
National Advisory Committee on AIDS
chair Dr Norbert Gilmore, Provincial
Advisory Committee on AIDS chair Dr
Mary Fanning, and US gay health col-
umnist Nathan Fain.

Although the June 5 forum advertised

"the new virus," as its theme, surpris-
ingly little was said about either
the virus or its implications. Dr Gilmore
cautioned that although the discovery of
the virus and a blood test to detect it is
encouraging, the blood test measures
antibodies only, and thus cannot deter-
mine whether a person is currently infec-
tious or was infected in the past but has
now recovered.

"Women and AIDS," held June 6,
featured health activist Anne Rochon
Ford, who drew parallels between the
media and public response to AIDS and
the response to certain feminist health
issues. AIDSupport member Linda Boyd
felt the forum was valuable because
"many women don't realize the ways in
which AIDS affects their lives, regardless
of sexual orientation, or the ways they
can help the lives of other people it af-

Chilling
indifference?

Mayor Eggleton plays politics
with AIDS Awareness Week

If poor attendance at AIDS Awareness
Week events indicated the need for greater
public awareness of AIDS, the manner in
which Toronto mayor Art Eggleton
declared the week did absolutely nothing
to help. Eggleton's office did not inform
ACT that the mayor would proclaim the
week until it was too late for the informa-
tion to be used in attendance-building
publicity.

Although ACT submitted its request for
an official proclamation April 12, it was
only on June 1 that the organization got
an answer, too late to place the newspaper
advertisement they had planned.

At the June 4 press conference that
opened the Week, ACT chairperson
Michael Lynch castigated Eggleton. "Al-
though he knew this week was supported
by federal, provincial and city health
authorities, Mayor Eggleton delayed....
His evasion of leadership shows irrational
fear and callous insensitivity," said
Lynch.

Earlier, ACT officer manager Karsten
Kossmann spoke more pointedly: "He de-
layed until the last minute to avoid having
his support made public and still be able
to claim political advantage for having
done it."

Imants Purvs, Eggleton's administra-
tion assistant, described Kossmann's alle-
gation as "unworthy of comment" and
said there was nothing unusual in the last-
minute issuance of the proclamation.

However, Anne Moon, public-relations
coordinator for the Toronto health de-
partment, told TBP her department had
learned from the mayor's office that he
would declare AIDS Awareness Week "at
least ten days" before June 4. She sug-
gested the failure to inform ACT was the
result of a "communication breakdown."
It is also possible that the imminent depar-
ture of special assistant David Goyette
from the mayor's office contributed to the
information blackout.

But the absence of any expression ot
regret by Eggleton over the delay and its
effects points to two unpleasant alterna-
tive conclusions: an effort to educate the
public and the especially affected group-
about a wasting and lethal disease was
damaged either a- a matter of deliberate
policy or as the outcome of chilling
indifference. Ken Popert

THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY/AUGUST 1984 □ 13

la Betfn'E irdestal

lishm. ■ I 41 I :.mer

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"Vacationing at Fire Island Pines''

Name

Address

City

State

Zip

Buck'n' Beau's Bed'n' Board

1

Then The Body Politic

is right where you are. Check

the list below for the location

of the outlet nearest you,

and get your copy of TBP

hot off the press.

DOWNTOWN

W H Smith. Hudson's Bay Centre.

Bloor & Yonge

Book City, 663 Yonge

Glad Day Bookshop, 648A Yonge

Longhouse Books, 630 Yonge

Records on Wheels, 621 Yonge

Hitch-n-Post, 529 Yonge

Chaps. 9 Isabella

Time Square Books. 369 Yonge

Mottel Books. 329 Yonge

Phantasy Books. 329 1/2 Yonge

Topper Books, 289 Yonge

Min-A-Mart. 557 Church

Atalanta Variety. 368 Church

Fairway Variety, 520 Parliament

Books & Chocolates, 584 Parliament

Parliament Smoke and Gift,

609 Parliament

The Manatee, 1 1 St Joseph

Boots at the Selby, 592 Sherbourne

Pages Book Stores, 256 Queen W

This Ain't the Rosedale Library,

110 Queen E

Cameo Club. 95 Trinity St

The Toolbox. 18 Eastern Ave

Olympia Gift Shop, Toronto Star Building,

Yonge & Queen's Quay

World's Biggest Bookstore

20 Edward St

Roman II Health & Recreation Spa. 742 Bay

Lichtman's News & Books. The Atrium, 595 Bay |

Lichtman's News & Books, 34 Adelaide W

Classic Bookshop, Royal Bank Plaza. 200 Bay

W H Smith. TD Centre. King and Bay

Book Cellar, 142 Yorkville

Lovecraft, 63 Yorkville

McPherson Discount Variety, 214 Macpherson

Toronto Women's Bookstore, 73 Harbord St

Reader's Den, 208 Bloor W

SCM Book Room, 333 Bloor W

Book City. 501 Bloor W

University Bookroom, U of T Campus

Textbook Store, U of T Campus
Bob Miller Book Room. 180 Bloor W
A S Smoke & Gift Shop, 273 College
Edwards Books & Art. 356 Queen W

EAST TORONTO

Cambridge Tuck Shop

50 Cambridge

Garfield, Gerrard Square.

Gerrard & Pape

Booksmilh, 201 2B Queen E

Beaches Book Shop, 2199 Queen E

NORTH TORONTO

Lichtman's News. 1430 Yonge

Book Cellar. 1560 Yonge

Bookworks. 2409 Yonge

The Book Nook. 2481 Yonge

Nu-Claire's Cigar Store, 1636 Bayview

WEST TORONTO

Bloor Discount Variety, 610 Bloor W

YORK

Thorncliffe News Stand, 45 Overlea

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Keele & Steeies campus

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Then you can pick up The Body Politic
at one of these convenient stores.

Reading Centre, 621 W Pender

Manhattan Books, 1081 Robson

European News, 1136 Robson

Little Sisters Books, 1221 Thurlow

Daily Foods, 1212 Robson

Robson Supermarket, 1204 Robson

Waydel Enterprise. 1139 Davie

Discovery Books, 1206 Davie

BC Supermarket, 1518 Robson

Sunset Books, 1795 Robson

Oenman Market, 940 Denman

Ricardo's Market, 991 Denman

Chris Grocery, 1063 Denman

Denman Grocery, 1080 Denman

English Bay Book Co. 102-1184 Denman

KITSILANO

VIP News, 2440 Granville St
Maytair News, 1515 W Broadway
Octopus Books. 2250 W 4th Ave

Ariel Books, 2766 W 4th Ave

DOWNTOWN

Universal Newsstand. 132 E Hastings

Sangs, 731 Davie

Vancouver Block, 742 Granville St

Castle Tobacco, 750 Granville

Octopus Books. 1146 Commerical

Book Warehouse. 632 W Broadway

Jack & Jill Superette. 3026 Mountain Hwy

fects." To date, eleven women in Cana-
da have been diagnosed as having AIDS.

Despite the wide range of topics and
speakers, the forums drew disappoint-
ingly small audiences. The panels on
hemophilia, women, and health-care
personnel attracted less than 40 people
each, while the forum aimed at the gay
community drew only 175 people.

The low attendance figures reflect the
declining interest in AIDS among gay
men over the past year. Although the
number of AIDS cases continues to
climb, and significant medical discover-
ies have been made, AIDS no longer in-
spires the fear and intense interest it did
a year ago.

The reason may be that gay men (and
the general community as well) have
simply gotten used to AIDS and, reas-
sured by the slow rate of increase, have
become complacent. The media, too,
have lost interest, and with AIDS rarely
making headlines any more, the issue
seems less important.

Then there is ACT's role, which has
been to downplay the sense of crisis,
concentrating on defusing panic and
promoting an informed, rational ap-
proach. In the process, however, con-
cern about AIDS seems to have been
defused as well, and the organization
has been unable to maintain the com-
munity support it gained last year.

The flagging interest could not have
come at a worse time, for ACT is now
facing a major funding crisis. ACT's
core funding for 1983-84, a grant of
some $65,000 for the COED project, a
federal-provincial make-work pro-
gramme, ends June 30, with no new
funding source in sight. "All three levels
of government have told us to look else-
where for renewed core funding," said
ACT office manager Karsten Kossmann.
However, St George MPP Susan Fish
continues to lobby for the organization,
and ACT chair Michael Lynch expresses
hopes that provincial health minister
Keith Norton will come through with
financial support.

"ACT managed to raise one-third of
its $100,000 budget last year, through
fund-raising in the gay community,"
said Kossmann, "but we cannot hope to
support an office, staff salaries, phone
lines and printing costs on private dona-
tions alone." If the group does not re-
ceive funding, the vital role ACT plays in
community education, phone counsel-
ling and monitoring media reporting on
AIDS will have to be taken over by other
community groups.

Susan Fish has called ACT "a model
information centre and counselling ser-
vice that is referred to across the coun-
try. Their services have proved invalu-
able to the community." But counselling
and information are hard to measure,
and carry little weight where government
funding is concerned. If the media were
paying more attention, and if the num-
ber of AIDS cases had increased more
rapidly during the past year (as they may
well do in the year to come), provincial,
federal and municipal governments
would jump at the chance to appear to
be responding to a public crisis.

Last year, the Toronto Health Depart-
ment's widely acclaimed risk-reduction
poster told gay men, "Don't play the
numbers game." But when it comes to
funding an essential public service, it
seems that is exactly the game the de-
partment and higher government levels
are playing. Robert Trow □

Canadian AIDS update (as of May 30, 1984):
88 adult cases (77 males, 11 females), of
whom 40 are alive and 48 dead; 49 homosex-
uals, 39 heterosexuals or unknown.
Provincial breakdown: Quebec 41; Ontario
30; British Columbia 8; Alberta 4; Nova
Scotia 2; Manitoba, Newfoundland and
Saskatchewan, all I each.

14 □ THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY/AUGUST 1984

COPWATCH

GLENN WHEELER

Antagonists and apologists

All across Canada (everywhere in the
world!) people have trouble with the
police. In Halifax, cops harass gay men
cruising the Triangle and keep silent
about rapes in the well-to-do areas of the
South End because, says Chief Fitz Fry,
talking about it would lower property
values. In Regina, the police send their
dogs after native people. In Montreal,
they raid gay bars and charge the patrons
with being found in a common bawdy-
house. And everywhere, it seems, cops
prey on gay men in washrooms, tease
them and trick them into grabbing a feel.

It was public dissatisfaction with the
Metro Toronto police that led to the for-
mation of the Citizens' Independent Re-
view of Police Activities. CIRPA is a com-
munity group that receives complaints
about the police, processes them and uses
them to make recommendations on pol-
icing in Toronto.

It was the public outcry over the
shooting of Albert Johnson, a black man,
in 1979 and the bath raids in 1981 that
resulted in the creation of CIRPA. No
other city in Canada has an organization
like it. Perhaps there's a different pol-
itical climate in Toronto. Or perhaps it's
because the bath raids in 1981 resulted in
more arrests — more than 300 — than
any other single police action in Canada.

Toronto also has Richard Ericson, who
teaches in the Centre of Criminology at
the University of Toronto, and Maeve
McMahon, a graduate student at the cen-
tre. Ericson has become the darling of the
crime scene in Canada, and for good rea-
son. He's a good criminologist because he
doesn't always take the side of the police.
Among his books is Reproducing Order:
A Study of Police Patrol Work, a text-
book that's fun to read.

Ericson and McMahon have also stud-
ied CIRPA. The result is Policing Reform:
A Study of the Reform Process and Po-
lice Institution in Toronto. Their thesis is
that CIRPA has changed from being an
antagonistic opponent of the police to be-
ing a supplicant, taking up the police
discourse and being more concerned
about its own welfare than it is about the
victims of police abuse, who provide its
bread and butter. They also claim that
CIRPA has lost its credibility with visible
minorities because it's dominated by
white, middle-class men, including a dis-
proportionate number of gay men. "Visi-
ble minority group involvement is mini-
mal, while the representation and in-
volvement of gay community members is
very high," they write.

Now, it's true that CIRPA has changed
in the past few years, but Ericson paints a
picture of the organization being co-
opted by the police because of personal
failings on the part of its members. "Re-
form groups rarely take the time to sys-
tematically and self-critically address
basic questions as to their reason for be-
ing and the implications of their exis-
tence," they say. But CIRPA and the po-
lice institution don't exist in the world by
themselves. It's interesting that Ericson
and McMahon never talk about the de-
gree to which organizations like CIRPA
rely on the media. If you don't get your
name in the paper and on the evening
news, then you cease to be a going con-
cern. Volunteers don't join and people
stop giving money. Unlike the police in-
stitution, CIRPA has to worry about pay-

ing its phone bill. The media have a short
attention span, and if CIRPA kept saying
the same thing at police-commission
meetings, assignment editors might get
the impression that there's no news. That
would be disastrous.

Then there's the gay thing. "According
to some young complainants from the
Scarborough party (where police were
videotaped by CITY-TV as they banged
their batons over the heads of party-
goers), the perception of CIRPA as a gay
organization also dissuaded some of the
other youths at the party from going to
CIRPA," writes Ericson. Perhaps the
people at the party who were beaten up
by the police and didn't ask for CIRPA's
help felt differently when those who did
go to CIRPA got financial compensation.

It's true that the number of gay men in-
volved in CIRPA is disproportionately
high, but then the number of complaints
we lodge againt the cops is probably dis-
proportionately high, too. And no politi-
cal group has been able to replicate in its
ranks the proportion of races that exists
in the real world. Not feminist groups,
not The Body Politic, not the Tory party.
So why should CIRPA be singled out?

Have Ericson and McMahon simply
made mistakes? Or are they homophobic?

•
Ontario's Attorney-General Roy
McMurtry — proving once again that
he's the most reliable apologist Toronto
cops will ever have — has suddenly be-
come concerned about the quality of tele-
vision coverage at the Grange royal com-
mission, which is investigating what some
say are the suspicious deaths of babies at
the Hospital for Sick Children in Toron-
to. The attorney-general says the cover-
age has given "a dramatic wrong impres-
sion" of what has taken place, having
concentrated on the testimony of nurses
rather than of doctors. He says the TV
coverage has been "sensational" and
"one-sided," and warns journalists that it
was this kind of coverage that led to
rioting in black sections of Miami.

Now, you might say it's the A-G's job
to speak out when there's been a miscar-
riage of justice, which is what the Grange
commission inquiry is. You might even
forgive McMurtry for misrepresenting the
Miami riots, for not knowing that it was
poverty and police brutality that led to
frustration and violence. After all, they
don't teach class analysis at Upper
Canada College.

But it's the timing of McMurtry's cau-
tion that reveals his real motive. He
didn't open his mouth during the two
weeks that Phyllis Trayner, a nurse, was
being badgered by police lawyer Doug
Hunt. Tried and convicted on coast-to-
coast television.

But you see, the commission is only
now getting around to examining the
police investigation of the deaths. In the
next phase of the inquiry, we'll hear how
the cops charged nurse Susan Nelles with
four counts of murder, apparently on no
other evidence than that she didn't cry
when babies died, and that she asked for
her lawyer to be present when she was
questioned. And about how the cops
tricked and cajoled nurses into implicat-
ing their fellow nurses in the baby deaths.

If you think the TV coverage has been
sensational so far — stay tuned. The best
is yet to come. □

BOOK
US

UP-

P.f\leerfi

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is expanding our lending library to include an ex-
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possible, we need your contributions of new and
used books. We are hoping to open the new section

in late September.

Bring your book donations to the Centre recep-
tion area (519 Church St) or you can call Penny
Lamy at 923-2778 to arrange pick-up.

This ad was made possible through a grant from the
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THE BODY POLITIC Ll JULY /AUGUST 1984 □ 15

WINDSOR:
AWARENESS IS A
TRICKY THING

"One of these days some lunatic's gonna
come into the bar and shoot someone,"
worries Windsor activist Bob Christmas,
echoing the fears of some of his friends at
JP's, the local watering hole where he
works part-time. He thinks the city's Gay
Awareness Week was problematic
because it got too much publicity.

He and Jim Monk work on the gay
radio show "Closets Are For Clothes,"
and the three of us were having coffee
after finishing the June 3 edition of the
show, which recapitulated some of the
highlights of the week during which I was
a guest on a panel discussing pornogra-
phy. It's an age-old debate in our move-
ment. The more we seem to gain the more
we are seen to risk: is it really worth it to
rock the boat? But for a city of 192,000,
Windsor has a well-developed gay com-
munity with fairly sophisticated leader-
ship. This discussion has a somewhat dif-
ferent significance in 1984 than it might
have in 1974.

Fifty years ago JP's was a working-
class bar with a clientele whose sexuality
was obvious only to those whose eyes
were trained to see it. During the war, it
was ro doubt populated by women get-
ting their first crack at jobs and indepen-
dence in this industrial town. But by
1974, with the formation of the Windsor
Homophile Association, a Windsorite
just coming out didn't need nearly as
many special skills to connect with others
of his or her own kind. By March 17,
1977 the group, which had changed its
name to Windsor Gay Unity, persuaded
their local council to make Windsor the
third Canadian city to ban discrimination
against its own gay employees.

Until this year's gay-awareness project,
one of the community's most public
events was a province-wide conference
called "Never Going Back!" organized
by Gay Unity in 1979. Five years later
there's plenty of evidence that they meant
it, in spite of some close calls. In 1982, for
instance, Gay Unity dissolved, but it was
quickly replaced by the Lesbian /Gay
Community Services Group (LGCSG),
which this year produced Windsor's first
Gay Awareness Week.

Last November an organizing commit-
tee, involving only a dozen people at the
most, began planning the events to raise
two different types of awareness: within
the gay community and among straight
people (including those who don't yet
know or accept that they are gay).

The committee worked effectively
through the media. Since they couldn't
afford to advertise on city buses, the
group opted for free publicity. They sent
spokesperson Jim Monk and past chair
Barry Adam to ask city council to offici-
ally declare the week — knowing they
wouldn't get it but gambling that it would
be worth it anyway. The gamble paid off.
Council's denial of the proposal as
"dangerous propaganda" that would
promote the spread of AIDS, spurred on
by denunciations from the president of
the county medical society and a col-
league, was picked up by all five local
radio stations and was the lead item on
local TV news two nights in a row.
Adam, a sociology professor at the Uni-
versity of Windsor, was in the news again
when, on behalf of the group, he de-

NETWORK

manded that the Canadian Medical Asso-
ciation take disiplinary action against the
doctors. These incidents — and the
events of the week itself — resulted in
nine radio broadcasts (including a three-
hour live phone-in show), three TV inter-
views, four high-school speaking engage-
ments and six articles in the Windsor
Star. The Star also printed a profile of
Monk that was carried by the Canadian
Press news wire service.

The Star profile brought at least one
person out of the closet and to the events
during Awareness Week. "If he could do
it," said Bonny, an enthusiastic and
charming woman in her early forties,
"then so could I."

It won't be as easy for her as it might
be for a man. While gay men and lesbians
have long socialized in the same places,
JP's is as mixed as it is because the bar
that used to cater mostly to men went
bankrupt. And the movement's greatest
weakness here has been its inability to
keep women involved long enough that
they might provide each other with the
social incentive to stay involved.

The city's quite a different place to
come out in now than it was a decade
ago, when Jim Monk did it. That was
before he helped to launch LGCSG's
predecessor. "You once had to really
search for the community here," he
recalls, "now you just have to look in the
phone book." In that sense, coming out
is easier now. But not everyone takes ad-
vantage of Windsor's community.
Detroit is just across the river — an inter-
national border — and offers more gay
bars than the Canadian city. Closeted
Windsorites cross the river to socialize in
safety. Canadians who socialize in their
own country — at JP's — tend to be a
pretty "out" bunch. And yes, there are
factors that make it riskier to be out.
Fears about publicity are based on real
experiences, such as queer-bashing.

But any bid for freedom requires tak-
ing risks. "Just because the better
organized and more visible we become,
the greater our vulnerability to attack,
doesn't mean we shouldn't get organized,"
says Monk. We'll never be available to
those who need us most if we don't keep
a high profile." And things like the
United Church and AIDS keep homosex-
uality in the headlines "whether we're
saying anything or not."

One small consolation — it was two
years of fielding press inquiries that
sharpened LGCSG's media skills and en-
abled the group to make Awareness Week
the success it was. Discussions were well-
attended and of a high calibre. An
Awareness Week panel on gay health con-
cerns, which focussed mainly on AIDS,
was the best-attended of the series, draw-
ing a crowd of 50 people. The seminar
also revealed some of the pressures and
contradictions this community faces,
sometimes, in the process, demonstrating
exactly how necessary Awareness Week
was.

Unfortunately, Detroit's gay leader-
ship is less sophisticated than LGCSG, or
even than Dr Helena Jacyk of Windsor's
STD clinic. Members of Detroit's AIDS
support group, Wellness Network Incor-
porated, tended to present a moralistic,
anti-sex view of AIDS. It would be easier
for the movement to raise community
awareness if its attempts to do so were
not so effectively undermined by some of
its own members. But the nay-sayers are
attracting attention and support from the
gay community. For example, some
Windsorites indicated they wouldn't at-
tend the panel on AIDS because one parti-

cipant would be a person with AIDS. If
that's how we treat each other, wondered
someone who went, how can we expect
any better from straights?

"It's more accurate to measure
people's consciousness by their deeds
than by words that may only represent
what they think they should say," says
Monk. His length of service gives him a
long view. "Look at Bob Christmas, for
example," he says. "He expresses the
fear that Awareness Week got too much
attention and yet he devotes a lot of time
to broadcasting a gay radio show and go-
ing to talk to kids in high-school classes.
Which speaks louder, his words or his
actions?" Chris Bearchelin

BI/ NATIONAL

i 'Alcoholics Anonymous. International Advisory Council lor Homo-
sexual Men and Women, Box 492. Village Stn. New York. NY
10014

[ 1 Atlantic Lesbian and Gay Association/Association des Lesbi-
ennes el des gaies de I'Atlantique. contact GAE (Halifax). FLAG
(Fredencton) or Northern Lambda NorrJ (Western NB).

□ Bisexuals International. Box 107. 2039 Walnut St. Philadelphia,
PN 19103, USA. (215) 634-6244. Sun-Fri. 11 pm-3am

□ Canadian Gay Archives, Box 639, Stn A, Toronto, ON M5W 1G2
(416)364-2759

1 IDignity/Canada/Dignite. Box 1912, Winnipeg. MB R3C 3R2.
(204) 772-4322.

'Foundation lor the Advancement of Canadian Transsexuals, Box
291 . Stn A. Hamilton. ON L8N 3C8 (416) 529-7884 SW Ontario:
Ms R M Schwartzentruber, 21 Cherry St. Kitchener, ON N2G 2C5
(519)576-5248.

□ Gay Interest Group, Canadian Library Association. Box 1912.
Winnipeg. MBR3C3R2.

n International Gay Association. International Secretariat, c/o
RFSL. Box 350, S-101 24 Sweden, ph: 46-8-848050/845576. Ac-
tion Secretariat and Women's Secretariat, c/o NVIH COC, Rozen-
straat 1, 1016 NX Amsterdam, The Netherlands ph
31-20-234596.

International Lesbian Information Service (IDS). Box 45, 00251
Helsinki 25, Finland, ph 358-0-635571

Ligo de Samseksamai Geesperantistoj, gay Esperanto organiza-
tion. 100 Crerar Ave, Ottawa. ON K1Z 7P2.

New Democratic Party Gay Caucus, Box 792. Stn F, Toronto. ON
M4Y 2N7

n North American Transvestite-Transsexual Contact Service. Box
3, Athens. Ohio 45701. USA (206) 624-8266.

□ Section on Gay and Lesbian Issues in Psychology, c/o Canadian
Psychological Association. 558 King Edward Ave. Ottawa, ON
K1N 7N6

□ Seventh-day Adventist Kinship International. Inc. c/o Jeremy
Young, Box 408. Stn C, Toronto. ON M6J 3P5.

□Women's Archives, Box 928, Stn 0. Toronto. ON M4T 2P1

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Provincial

□ AFFIRM: Gays and Lesbians of the United Church in BC. Box

46586. Stn G, Vancouver V6R 4G8. (604) 324-3902. Support
group and educational resources.

Kamloops

r JThompson Area Gay Group. Box 3343, V2C6B9 Welcomes
women and men to regular meetings, discussions, social events.
Into, newsletter, peer support, friendship

Kelowna

Okanagan Gay Organization Mutual support The group can be
contacted directly by phone through the Kelowna Crisis Centre.
(604) 763-8008.

Port Alberni

□ To contact the local group, write c/o Mr Trevor Kelly, 201-4204
China Creek Rd. Port Alberni. BC V9Y 1R1 (604) 724-4914.
Counselling, companionship

Port Hardy

1 North Island Gay and Lesbian Support and Information Group,

Box 1404. Port Hardy. BC, VON 2P0.

Prince Rupert

Gay People of Prince Rupert Box 881 . V8J 3Y1 .
(604) 624-4982 (eve).

Revelstoke

Lothlorien. Box 8557. Sub 1 , V0E 3G0 Info, friendship,
hospitality

Terrace

Northern Lesbians RR2 Box 50, Usk Store, V8G3Z9

Vancouver

AIDS Vancouver, c/o 19th II, 355 Burrard St, V6C 2J3. Ph
[604)687-AIDS

I 'Alcoholics Anonymous (Gay). (604) 733-4590 (men). (604)
929-2585 (women).

Archives Collective. Box 3130. MPO. V6B 3X6

Bisexual Women's Group Monthly meetings Call Joyce at
251-6090

Coming Out (Gay Radio) c/o Vancouver Cooperative Radio. 337
Carrall St. V6B 2J4 Thursat? 30 pm. 102 7MHzFM

Congregation Sha'ar Hayam Jewish gay synagogue. Box
69406. V5K 4W6 (604) 255-1076

Oaughters Unlimited. Joyce (604) 251-6090 (Plans to open a
women's club.)

Oignity/Vancouver Box30t6. V6B3X5 (604)684-7810.

□ Oogwood Monarchist Society, 303-1150 Burnaby St. V6E 1P2

□ English Bay Swim Club, c/o 4249 Birchwood Crescent. Burnaby
V5H 4E6 Meets Thurs. 6 pm at Vancouver Acquatic Centre. Info.
(604) 433-8000 (Ken) or 669-6696 (Roy)

□ Frontrunners (running/jogging) Call Erik (604) 687-3238 or
Rick (604) 590-4665

□ Gay and Lesbian Caucus of the BC NOP (604) 669-5434

□ The Gay Library, 1244 Seymour St, Box 2259 MPO, Vancouver.
BC V6B 3W2 (604) 327-9883 or 688-1006

Gay Fathers of Vancouver, Box 3785. V6B 3Z1 (604) 688-6590

□ Gay Festival Society, Box 34397. Stn D. V6J 4P3 (604)
687-7129.

□ Gay Leisure Link (GLL). Box 4662. V6B 4A1

□ Gay/Lesbian Law Association, c/o Law Students Assoc. Faculty
of Law, U of BC, V6T 1W5 (604) 228-4638.

□ Gay Rights Union, Box 3130. MPO. V6B 3X6. (604) 731-9605

□ Gays and Lesbians of UBC. Box 9. Student Union Bldg. U of
British Columbia. V6T 1W5 (604) 228-4638 Meets Thurs at
12:30 pm (see The Ubyssey for room).

□ Gazebo Connection (business & professional women's group).
382-810 W Broadway. V5Z 4C9 (604) 984-8744.

□ Greater Vancouver Business Association, c/o Owayne Sullivan,
941 Davie St, V6Z 1B9

□ Integrity: Gay Anglicans and their friends, Box 34161 . Stn D.
V6J4N1 (604)873-2925.

□ Knights of Malta, Dogwood Chapter Society, Box 336-810 West
Broadway, V5Z 1J8.

□ Lambda (Gay Al-Anon). Joe at (604) 689-7681 or Mike at
327-8423.

□ Legal Advice Clinic. 1244 Seymour St (VGCC) Mon, 7:30 pm
Free advice and referrals

□ Lesbian and Feminist Mothers' Political Action Group, Box
65804. Stn F. V5N 5L3 (604) 251-6090

□ Lesbian and Gay Health Sciences Association, c/o Gay People of
UBC. Box 9. Student Union Bldg. UBC. V6T 1W5.

□ Lesbian Drop-In, 322 W Hastings, every Wed, 7:30 pm.
(604) 684-0523.

□ Lesbian Information Line. (604) 734-1016 Thurs, Sun,
7-10 pm.

□ Lesbian Feminist Power and Trust Association. Consensual S/M
support, education and action group Box 65868, Stn F, V5L 5L3

□ Lesbian Mothers' Defense Fund, Box 65804, Stn F, V5N 5L3.
(604) 255-6910. Potluck brunches last Sun of month

□ The Lesbian Show. Co-op Radio. 337 Carrall St, V6B 2J4.
102.7 MHz FM, Thurs. 8 30 pm.

□ Metropolitan Community Church, Box 5178. V6B 4B2 (604)
681-8525. Services Sun, 7:30 pm, at 1811 W 16th Ave (at
Burrard)

□ Native Cultural Society (gay native social group), c/o H
McGillivary, 1244 RobsonSt. V6E 1C1. (604) 688-2645.

□ Pacific Wave, TV show by gay people about gay life, culture and
art. Regular monthly and special programmes 837 Bidwell St,
V6G2J7. (604)689-5661.

□ Parents and Friends ol Gays (604) 988-7786

□ Rights of Lesbians , (Subcommittee of Federation of Women),
Box 24687, Stn C.V5T4E6

□ Rob Joyce Legal Defense Fund, c/o Gay Rights Union.

□ SEARCH, c/o VGCC. Info and counselling: (604) 689-1039,
7-10 pm.

□ Sherwood Forest, non-profit gay introduction service
(604) 251-2789.

□ Vancouver Activists in S/M (VASM). call George
(604) 594-3632 or Fred (604) 685-7067 An educational
organization with a monthly newsletter.

□ Vancouver VD Clinic, Rm 100, 828 W 10th Ave (near Gen Hosp)
(604)874-2331, Ext 220.

□ Vancouver Gay Athletic Association, c/o 1018 Burnaby St
(604)681-2424.

□ Vancouver Gay Community Centre. 1244 Seymour St, Box 2259,
MPO, V6B 3W2 (604)684-6869 Services, programmes, mag-
azine

□ Vancouver Men's Chorus, 1270 Chestnut St. V6J 4R9. Rehear-
sals every Wed, 7:30 pm, at the Vancouver Academy of Music. For
information phone Kevin at (604) 731-1 779 or Larry at 734-8802
□West End Softball Association. Box 161 , 1018 Homer St,

V6B 4W9. Call Frank Hamper (604) 255-4410

□West End Volleyball, 222-1500 Pendrell St. (604) 669-6696.

: Women in Focus, 204-456 W Broadway, V5Y 1R3.

(604) 872-2250

□ Young Gay People, c/o SEARCH.

□ Younger Lesbian Drop-In every Sat. 3-5 pm at 1349 Burrard.

□ Zodiac Fraternal Society, Box 33872, Stn 0, V6J 4L6

Vernon

□ Vernon Alternative Lifestyle, RR6, Site 17, Comp19, V1T 6Y5

Victoria

□ Alcoholics Anonymous (Gay). (604) 383-9862

□ Dignity Victoria. Box 845, Stn E, V8W2R9 (604)385-1559.

□ Feminist Lesbian Action Group. Box 1604, Stn E, V8W 2X7.

□ Gay and Lesbian Organization of the University of Victoria (GL0),
SUB. Univof Victoria, Box 1700, V8W 2Y2.

□ Gay Men's Group. 2612 Victor St, V8R 1N3. (604) 595-6782.
The Island Gay Community Centre Society, 305 -576 Simcoe St.

V8V 1L8. (604) 389-1964 or 381-7662 (answering service). Gay
cafe at 1923 Fernwood every Thurs, 8-midnight
1 1 Lesbians Across Canada Correspondence Association Contact
lesbians for correspondence or meetings Inquiries to: S O'Reilly,
Box 1674. Stn E. Victoria V8W2Y1

I iNeed (Victoria Crisis Lino), (604) 383-6323. 24 hrs. Some gay
info available.
Womyn's Colfee House. 1923 Fernwood Every Wed evening

West Kootenay region

IWest Kootenay Gays and Lesbians, Box 642, Nelson V1L 4K5
Offering friendship, a newsletter, info and social events Potluck
third Sunday of month. 3-7 pm, contact Nelson Community Ser-
vices Centre (604) 352-3504 (24 hrs)

ALBERTA

Provincial

Alberta Lesbian and Gay Rights Association (ALGRA). Box 1852.
Edmonton T5J 2P2.

Calgary

Camp 181 Association. Box 965, Stn T. T2H 2H4 Dances,
campouts. sports and other activities for lesbians and gays
( Calgary Lambda Centre Society. Box 357, Stn M, T2P 2H9

Dignity/Calgary, Box 1492, Stn T, T2H 2H7.

16 □ THE BODY POLITIC D JULY /AUGUST 1984

DGay Leisure Link. Non-challenging, non-sexual social organiza-
tion. Box 1812, Sin M, T2P 2L8.

OGay Political Action Committee, c/o Box 2943, Stn M. T2P 3C3
Education and lobbying.

D Imperial Court of tho Chinook Arch, (403)282-6393 Entertain-
ments and social events

DLesbian Information Line, (403) 265-9458, Tues-Fri, 8-10 pm,
with 24 hr answering service. Operated by Womyn's Collective
GLesbian Mothers, Lynn at (403) 264-6328 or 275-8362, or call
LIL. Potluck first Sun of each month.
DLesbian Outreach and Support Team, Box 6093. Stn A,
T2H 2L4. (403) 281-2895.

Lesbians and Gays at University ol Calgary. Students Club,
MacEwan Hall, U of Calgary, T2N 1N4.

□ Metropolitan Community Church, 204-16 Ave, NW, T2M 0H4
(403) 277-4004. Services Sun 11 30 am and 7 pm at above
address

□ New Horizons (physically disabled gays) c/o 1927 30th St SW,
T3E 2L5. Or phone Gay Lines, (403) 234-8973.

□Womyn's Collective, (403) 265-9458 Dances, library, lesbian
drop-ins every Tues Sponsors LIL.

Edmonton

□ Dignity Edmonton Oignite. Box 53, T5B 2B7 (403) 469-4286

□ Edmonton Roughnecks Recreation Association, c/o GATE Vol-
leyball. Softball, gymnastics.

□ Gay Alliance Toward Equality, Box 1852. T5J 2P2. Office:
10173-104 St. (403) 424-8361. Info and counselling, Mon-Sat,
7-10 pm, Sun 2-5 pm. Also coffeehouses, socials, newsletter,
resource library

□ Gay Fathers & Lesbian Mothers For info call (403) 424-8361 .

□ Inter/Ed. Box12G, 9820-104 Si, T5K 0Z1. (403)421-7629
(Jim).

□ Metropolitan Community Church ol Edmonton. Box 1312,
T5J 2M8 (403)438-5168. Sunday worship at 7:30 pm. 126
Street - 110 Avenue.

□ Privacy Defence Committee, c/o Box 1852, T5J 2P2.

□ Royalist Social Society of Northern Alberta (Imperial-Court of the
Wild Rose), 10820-38 Av NW, T6E 2E6.

□ The Vocal Minority, "to educate the general population about
the multiplicity and richness of our lives through public musical
performances." (403) 426-1516 or 426-1246.

□ Womonspace, a social and recreational group for lesbians, c/o
Everywomon's Place, 9926-1 12 St. Phone Jeanne, (403)
433-3559 or Liz, 986-0263

Red Deer

□ Gay Association ol Red Deer, Box 356, T4N 5E9.

Let h bridge

□ Dignity Lethbridge. Box 2262, T1J 4K7. Phoneline
(403) 327-0109,7-9 pm.

SASKATCHEWAN

Provincial

□ Affirm/Saskatchewan, lesbians and gays in the United Church
422 Smallwood Cres, Saskatoon, S7L 4S4.

□ Dignity/Saskatchewan (gay Catholics and friends), Box 3181 .
Regina S4P 3G7

□ Gay Rights Subcommittee. Saskatchewan Association lor
Human Rights. 305-116 3rd Ave S. Saskatoon, S7K 1L5.
(306) 244-1933.

Prince Albert

□ Prince Albert Gay Community Centre (The Zodiac Club). Box
1893. S6V 6J9 1-24 10th St. E. (306)922-4650. Phone line Wed-
Thurs, 8-10 pm, social evenings Fri-Sat. 10 pm-2 am

Regina

□ Rumours (gay community centre). 2069 Broad St (back en-
trance). (306) 522-7343

□ Regina Women's Community and Rape Crisis Centre 219-1810
Smith St, S4P 2N3 (306) 522-2777. 352-7688.

Saskatoon

□ Gay* Lesbian Support Services. 217-116 3rd Ave S Operates
Gayline Mailing address Box 8581.

Gay/Lesbian Community Centre, Box 1662, S7K 3R8. Phone
Gayline for info on dance and special event locations and dates.

Gayline, (306) 665-9129. Mon-Thurs, 7:30-10:30 pm. Counsel-
ling, support groups available

Gays and Lesbians at the University ol Saskatchewan (GLUS)
Box 482, Sub PO No 6. S7N 0W0 Open to staff and students of the
Saskatoon campus, holds social and educational events.

Lutherans Concerned. Box 8187, S7K 6C5

MANITOBA

Portage-la-Prairie

BiWomen s Support Group, Box 820. R1N 3C3
(204) 857-5295 For bisexual women

Thompson

Gay Friends of Thompson, Box 157, R8N 1N2

Winnipeg

Atlirm: Gays and Lesbians of the United Church 453-3984
(Eric) or 452-2853 (Oave)

Council on Homosexuality and Religion Box 1912. R3C 3R2
(204) 452-1813. 786 3976 Worship, counselling, library

Dignity/Winnipeg Box 1912, R3C 3R2

Gay AA New Freedom Group Box 2481 . or contact through Man-
itoba Central Office. (204) 233-3508

Gay AlAnon Group Into Gays for Equality

Gay Community Centre. 277 Sherbrooke St (204)786-1236 In
corporating Giovanni' s Room , a cate lor lesbians and gay men
Open every day except Sunday at 5 30 pm Fully licensed

Gay Fathers Winnipeg Box 2221 R3C 3R5 786-3976 (Thurs
eves. 7 30 pm-10pm)

Gay Parents, c/o Gays lor Equality

Gays for Equality. Box 27 UMSU. U ol Manitoba. R3T 2N2
(204) 786-3976 Office Suite 2. Gay Community Centre 277
Sherbrook Si Counselling, info, rap sessions, public education
and law reform Lesbian counsellors on lues evenings

Lesbian Line. (204) 786-3976. Tues evenings

Ms Purdy's 226 Main Sf (204)942-8212 Lesbian bar

Mutual Friendship Society Inc Box 427 R3C 2H6
(204) 774-3576 Social and educational programmes Operates
Happenings Social Club 272 Sherbrook St

□ Oscar Wilde Memorial Society, Box 2221 . R3C 3R5 Variety of
social, cultural and educational activities

□ Project Lambda, Inc. Box 3911. Stn B. R2W 5H9

(204) 772-1421. Lesbian/gay community service organization.
Publishes "Out & About," gay community library, community
fund-raising for medical, library, educational and counselling
services

□ Winnipeg Gay Media Collective. Box 27. UMSU. U of Manitoba.
R3T 2N2. (204) 786-3976. Produces "Coming Out." weekly half-
hour cable broadcast.

□ Winnipeg Gay Youth, c/o GFE.

□ University of Winnipeg Gay Students Association Info
(204) 786-3976

□ Yourself, Box 2790, R3C 3R5 For bisexual men and women

ONTARIO

Provincial

□ Coalition for Gay Rights in Ontario. Box 822. Stn A. Toronto
M5W1G3. (416)533-6824.

Cornwall

□ Gays and Lesbians in Cornwall. Box 21 1 , K6H 5S7. For more
inlo, call the Gays of Ottawa Gayline. (613) 238-1 71 7

Guelph

□ Guelph Gay Equality, Box 773. N1H 6L8. Gayline:
(519) 836-4550. 24 hrs.

□ Gays Out ol Doors (GOOD). See Kitchener/Waterloo

Hamilton

□ Alcoholics Anonymous (Gay), meets Sat at 8 pm at 15 Queen St
S (side entrance).

□ Foundation lor the Advancement of Canadian Transsexuals
(FACT Niagara). Box 291 , Stn A, L8N 3C8. (416) 529-7884

□ Gay Archives/History Project for Hamilton-Wentworth (416)
278-4713. Looking for photos, clippings, personal accounts of gay
life and liberation in Hamilton, especially pre-1979.

□ Gay Fathers of Hamilton. Support, advice. Meets twice a month
Call Gayline for info.

□ Gayline Hamilton, info on all groups and activities, peer counsel-
ling. (416) 523-7055 Wed-Sun, 7-11 pm.

□ Gay Women's Collective, c/o Gayline Meets 2nd Mon of month

□ Hamilton United Gay Societies (HUGS), a meeting of men and
women, young and old. with discussions and speakers. Meets on
alternate Weds, Gay Community Centre. Suite 207. 41 King William
St. 7:30 pm. Call Gayline for further into.

□ Mailing address for all Hamilton groups listed above: Box 44,
Stn B, L8L 7T5.

Kenora

□ The Lesbian Archives ol Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario,

RR 2, P9N 3W8. (807) 548-4325 (Isabel Andrews). In Manitoba,
contact Erin Cole, LAWR, Box 147, Winnipeg R2M 4A5.
(204) 256-7740.

Kingston

□ Queen's Homophile Association. 51 Queen's Crescent, Queen's
University, K.7L 2S7. (613) 547-5841 (24-hr recorded message,
stalled Mon-Fri, 7-9 pm. Drop-in Thurs evenings, biweekly
dances.

Kitchener/Waterloo

□ Gay Liberation of Waterloo, c/o Federation of Students, U of
Waterloo. Waterloo N2L 3G1. (519) 884-GL0W. Coffeehouse every
Wed at 8:30 pm. Campus Ctr, rm 110.

□ Gay News and Views, radio programme, Tues, 6-8 pm, CKMS-
FM, 94.5 MHz, 105.7 MHz on Grand River Cable. 200 University
AveW. (519)886-CKMS

□ Gays ol Wilfrid Laurier University, c/o WLUSU, Wilfred Laurier
University, 75 University AveW, Waterloo.

□ Gays Out of Doors (GOOD), Box 2751, Kitchener N2H 6N3 Out-
door activities and social club (camping, skiing, canoeing, cycling,
picnics, potluck suppers and parties).

□ Half and Half Club. A non-profit social club that sponsors a bar
and disco at 223 1/2 King St W (use Halls Lane entrance).
(519) 749-9084. Mon-Sat, 8 pm-1 am. Cover Thurs-Sat.

□ International Women's Day Committee. Box 1491, Stn C. Kit-
chener. N2G 4P2.

□ Kitchener-Waterloo Gay Media Collective. Box 2741 , Stn B, Kit-
chener, N2H 6N3. (519)579-3325.

□ Leaping Lesbians, radio programme, Thurs, 6 to 8 pm, CKMS-
FM. 94.5 MHz. 105.7 MHz cable Write c/o LOOK.

□ Lesbian Organization ol Kitchener. Box 2422, Stn B, Kitchener
N2H 6M3. (519) 744-4863. Womyns coffeehouse first Thurs of
month at 85 Highland Rd W, Kitchener.

London

□ Gay Youth London, c/o HALO Meets Thurs at 7 pm, 2nd floor,
649 Colborne St (519)433-3762.

□ Gayline, (519) 433-3551 Recorded message 24 hrs/day. Peer
counselling Mon and Thurs, 7-10 pm

Homophile Association of London, Ontario (HALO), 649 Colborne
St, N6A 3Z2 (519) 433-3762 Colfee House: Sun and Mon,
7-10 pm Disco/Bar. Fri and Sat, 9 pm-1 30 am
I Metropolitan Community Church, Box 4724. Stn D. N5W 5L7
Services Sun. 7:30 pm at Unitarian Church. 29 Victoria St W. north
entrance to Gibbons Park Info Worship Coordinator.
(519) 433-9939. Rides: (519) 432-9690

Mississauga/Brampton

GEM Gay Community Outreach Box 62. Brampton L6V 2K7
Gayline West, (416) 453-GGCO Peer counselling
Parents ol Gays Mississauga, c/o Anne Rutledge. 3323 Kings
Mastings Cres, L5L 1G5 (416) 820-5130

Niagara Region

Gayline, (416) 354-3173

Gay Unity Niagara Box 692. Niagara Falls L2E 6V5
Gay Trails, lor lesbians and gay men who en|oy hiking Day and
overnight trips planned Visitors welcome Box t053. MPO. St
Catharines. L2R 7A3. or call (416) 685-6431 belore9 am

North Bay

Gay Fellowship ol North Bay Box 665, Callendar. ON POH 1 HO
Meetings every Sunday lor gay men and lesbians lo share and
discuss our problems and |oys as gay persons

Ottawa

Dlgmty/Ottawa/Dlgnlti Box 2102. Stn D. KIP 5W3
Gay People at Carillon, c/o CUSA. Carlelon University For more
into, call (613) 238-1717

I

We Are Expanding!

Thank You For Your Support!

Thank you: Dan John Tom David Chris Rick Derrick Tony Jim George
Nick Roy Paul Pat Don Charles Dennis James Doug Jack Norm Bill Dick
Bob Ken Ron Jerry Charlie Henry Alex Mike Peter Les Terry Gord Steve
Keith Walter Lee Rod Martin Philip Hugh Keith Fred Harry Adam Bryan
Kevin Jeff and Ron Mark Ted Karl Scott Dale Max Norm Joe Frank Gerry
Barry Ian Ray Gordon Al Wayne Ralph Edward Martin Geoff Robin
Matthew Allan Roger Gary Blake Collin Harold Bruce Todd Neil Tim
Greg Lou Stu Craig Murray Henry Brian Larry Rob Maurice Leo Glen
Howard Mario Garnet Eric Shaun Victor Samuel Conrad

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ADVANCE TICKETS ($4) available June 29 at Paul's Grocery,
Silkwood, some local bars & GAGV Office

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COME ON DOWN
CANADA!

Gays ol Oltawa/Gais de I Outaouais Box 2919 Stn D. K1P5W9
GO Centre. 175 Lisgar St open 7 30-10 30 pm Mon-Thurs Thurs
lesbian drop-in. 8 pm; Fri: social, 7:30 pm-1 am; Sat; women's
night. 7 30 pm-1 am; Sun AA Live & Let Live group. 8 pm Gay-
line (613) 238-1717 Mon-Fn 7:30-10:30 pm. recording other
limes Office (613)233-0152.

i Gay Youth Ottawa/Hull/Jeunesse Gai(e) d Ottawa/Hull For into
call or write Gays ot Ottawa Meeting/drop-in. Wed 8 pm.
175 Lisgar St.

: '. Integrity/Ottawa, (gay Anglicans and their triends) c/oSt
George s Anglican Church. 152 Metcalte St, K2P 1N9.
(613) 235-2516.9-5. Mon-Fn. Meets 2nd and 4th Weds at
7:30 pm. at St George's.

Lesbiennes el gais du campus/Lesbians and Gays on Campus,
c/o SFU0, 85 rue Hastey Street. K1N 6N5.
GLive and Let Live Group for gay alcoholics. Contact GO.
Q Metropolitan Community Church. Box 2979, Stn 0, K1P 5W9
(613)232-0241
G Parents of Gays, Box 9094, K1G 3T8.

Peterborough

Gays and Lesbians at Trent and Peterborough 262 Rubidge St,
K9J 3P2 Oflice hours: 7:30-10 pm, Tues-Thurs.

Sudbury

DSudbury All Gay Alliance. Box 1092. Stn B. Sudbury, ON
P3E 4S6.

Thunder Bay

DGays ol Thunder Bay. Box 2155, P7B 5E8. (807) 345-8011 . Wed

and Fri 7:30-9:30 pm. Recording other times. Meets 1st and 3rd

Tues. Dances held monthly.

i Northern Women's Centre, 316 Bay St, P7B 1S1

(807) 345-7802

Toronto

For intormafion on groups in Toronto, check Out in The City, p 24.

Windsor

AA Acceptance Group — Gay/Lesbian Fellowship, Box 7002.
Sandwich Postal Stn. N9C 3Y6. (519)973-4951.
GGay/Lesbian Information Line. Box 7002. Sandwich Postal Stn,
N9C 3YC. (519)973-4951.

G Lesbian and Gay Students on Campus, c/o Students' Activities
Council, U of Windsor. (519)973-4951 Rap sessions weekly.
riLesbian/Gay Youth Group, c/o Box 7002, Sandwich Postal Sin.
N9C 3Y6 (519)973-4951,

QUEBEC

Brome

GThe Capables. Support group for bisexual men. Contact through
Gay Info in Montreal.

Charlevoix

DAssociation pour les droits des gais de Charlevoix. CP 724. Cler-
mont. GOT 1C0 (418)439-2080.

Hull

Association gaie de louest quebecois CP1215. succ B.
J8X 3X7 (819) 778-1737.

Lennoxville

Students Against Homophobia. Box 1594, Lennoxville Campus.
Lennoxville, J1M 2A1,

Montreal

DAtfirmer, CP471, succ La Cite. H2N 2N9 Gays in the United

Church

GAidoaux transsexuals du Quebec. CP363. succC. H2J 4K3.

(514)521-9302

DAIme-toi (AA), 6518. rue St Vallier. H2S 2P7. (514) 524-5821.

For gay and lesbian alcoholics.

DAIternatives.3440chemindelaC6te-djes-Neiges, H2J 1L2, For

gay male drug abusers

Les Archives gaies du Quebec, c/o Sortie. Box 232. Stn C.
H2L 4K1

Association communautalre homosexuelle de I'Unlvorstte de
Montreal, pavilion Lionel-Groulx. 3200 Jean-Brillant. local 1267.
H3T 1N8 (514) 342-9236 (Jean-Pierre).
n Association pour les droits des gals et lesbiennes du Quebec
(ADGLQ). CP 36. succ C, H2L 4J7. Office: 263 est rue Ste-
Catherine. (514) 843-8671 . Mon-Fri, 7-10 pm.

Association des bonnes gens sourdes, CP 764. succ R.
H2J 3M4

Atelier de theatre gai, Cegep Rosemont. 6400 16e Ave, local
A-418 (Michel Breton).

The Capables. c/o Gay Into, support group for bisexual men.
Meets second Weds ol month, 3237, rue Bt-Antoine.

Collectil d'lnterventlon communautalre. aupres des gals
(CICAG). CP29, succ Victoria. H3Z 2V4, (514) 484-2602

Le Collectil du triangle rose, c/o Librairie I'Androgyne
GComile gal-e du Cegep du Vleux-Montreal. 255 est. Ontario,
H2X 3M8 Mon. 6 pm

Communaute homophile chretienne Centre Newman. 3484 rue
Peel. H3A 1W8 (514)382-8467 For Catholics

Contact-t-nous (514)861-6753. Venereal disease treatment
ncdte a Cote, gay couples group c/o Gay Info
riCdte a Cote. Radio centre-ville CINQ (102.3 FM) (514)
288-1601 Mon. 4 pm.

Dignity Montreal Oignite, Newman Centre. 3484 Peel St.
H3A 1W8 (514)392-6711 For gay catholics and friends. Monday
7 30 pm

Eglise Communautalre de Montreal, Montreal Community
Church. CP 610. succ NOG. H4A 3R1 (514) 489-7845.
! Federation canadlenne des transsexuels pour le Quebec, 16 rue
Viau,VaudreuilJ7V 1A7

1 Femmes gales de McGill. 3480. rue McTavish, H3A 1X9 (514)
392-8920

Gai-ecoute(hommes). (514)843-5652 Wed-Sat. 7-11 pm

Gay Fathers ol Montreal, c/o Gay Info

Gay Hearth Clinic Montreal Youth Clinic/Clmique des Jeunes de
Montreal, 3465 Peel Street. H3A 1X1. (514)842-8576 General
practice. Mon-Fn. 9-5 pm. open until 8 pm Mon & Fri only Closed
daily 12 30-1 30 pm

Gay Info. CP1164. succH. H3G 2N1 (514)933-2395, Thurs-
Sat 7-10 30 pm Recorded message other times Counselling and
information

Gay Physicians ol Montreal/Les medecins gai(e|s de Montreal
a/s 2151 rue Lincoln N'20. H2H1J2

Gay and Lesbian Social Services. 5 rue Weredale Pk, Westmount
H3Z1Y5 (514)937-9581.

'Gayline. c/o Gay Social Services Project. 5 rue Weredale Pk.
Westmount. H3Z 1Y5 (514) 931-5330 (women), Thurs and Sat.
7-11 pm; 931-8668 (men). 7daysaweek, 7-11 pm. Info and coun-
selling in English

Gays and Lesbians at McGill, 3480 rue McTavish. local 411 .
H3A 1X9 (514) 392-8912.

GLeGoeland(AA). 4652 rue Jeanne-Mance (514)728-3228 For
lesbian and gay alcoholics

Groupe de discussion pour lesbiennes. 5 Weredale Park.
H3Z 1Y5. (514)932-9581 (Joanne Stitt)

Groupe pour lesbiennes alcooliques (AA), 6517 rue St-Denis.

Integrity Gay Anglicans and their friends. Box 562, Verdun
H4G 3E4 (514) 766-9623.

DJeunesse Lambda Youth, c/o The Yellow Door. 3625 rue Aylmer.
2nd floor, H2X 2C3.

Lesbian and Gay Friends of Concordia, c/o CUSA. Concordia
University. 1455 boul de Maisonneuve ouest. H3G 1M8
(514) 879-8406 Office: room 307. 2070 MacKay. open 1-4 pm
weekdays Meetings Thurs at 4 pm in room H-333-6.

Lesbiennes a I ecoute (514)843-5661 CP36. SuccC,
H2L 4J7. Wed-Sat, 7-11 pm.

Librairie I'Androgyne. 3642 boul St Laurent. 2nd floor.
H2X 2V4 (514) 842-4765.

□ Ligue Lambda Inc. CP701. succN, H2X 2N2. (514) 526-1967
(Claude) or 523-8026 (Donald). Sports group
DLive and Let Live, Alcoholics Anonymous group for gay men and
women Tuesdays, 7:30 pm, Rm 210, 5 Weredale Park.

Naches (gay and lesbian Jews), CP 298 succH, H3G ?K8
(514) 844-0863 or 488-0849. Meets at the Yellow Door. 3625
Aylmer St. Tues at 8 pm

Parallels Lesbiennes et Gais, radio programme. Mon 19h30.
CIBL-mf. 104,5. 1691 Pie IX, local 402. H1V 2C3. (514) 526-1489.
526-5387.

GParents and Families of Gays, c/o Gay Info
GProductions88, CP188, succC. H2L 4K1.
G Reunion des associations gales et lesbiennes a Montreal
(RAGLAM), Box 936, Stn H. H3G SM9
GServices communautaires pour lesbiennes et gais du Centre des
services sociaux Ville-Marie. 5 Weredale Park. Westmount.
H3Z 1Y5. (514) 937-9581 (Joanne Stitt).
GService Jeunesse, for those 25 and under, meets every Satur-
day. 8-10 pmat 263 est. rueSte- Catherine
GTravesties a Montreal, support lor transvestites c/o Gay Info
GUnited Church Gays and Lesbians in Ouebec/Les Gais et Les-
biennes de I ' Eglise Unie au Quebec, c/o United Theological Col-
lege, 3521 University St, H3A 2A9. (514) 392-6711.
GVivre Gai(e) (AA), St Jean Anglican Church. 110, est Ste Cather-
ine. H2X 1Z6. (514) 733-0757.

Quebec

Centre homophile d'aideet deliberation, 175 Prince-Edouard,
G1R4M8. (418) 523-4997.

QGroupe gai del'Universite Laval, CP2500. Pavilion Lemieux,
Cite universitaire. Ste-Foy, G1K 7P4.
GLigue Mardi-Gai. (418) 529-6973 (Jean Claude Roy)

Sherbrooke

GL' Association pour I'epanouissement de la communaute gaie de
I'Estrie. CP294.J1H 5J1

NEW BRUNSWICK
Fredericton

Fredencton Lesbians and Gays. Box 1556. Stn A. E3B 5G2
(506) 457-2156. Meets 2nd Wed of month.

Moncton

GGals et Lesbiennes de Moncton. CP 7102, Riverview. Nouveau
Brunswick.

Saint John

Lesbian and Gay Organization - Saint John (LAG0-SJ), Box
6494,StnA.SUohn.E2L4R9.

Western NB

GNorthern Lambda Nord, Box 990, Caribou. Maine 04736 USA
Serving Western NB and Northern Maine (Madawaska/Victoria/
Carlton, NB; Temiscouata, Quebec; and Aroostook, Maine). Gay
phoneline: (207) 896-5888

NOVA SCOTIA

Halifax

GGay Alliance for Equality Inc. Box 3611. Halifax South Postal Stn.
B3J 3K6 (902)429-4294

GGayline. (902) 423-1389. Box 361 1 . Halifax South Postal Stn,
B3J 3K6 Thurs- Sat, 7-10 pm. Into, referrals and peer coun-
selling

GLesblan Drop-In. 2nd and 4th Fri ol month, 1225 Barrington St
Info: 429-4063. Music and conversation.
G Live and Let Live Group , for gay alcoholics Phone or write GAE .

Rumours (gay community centre) 1586 Granville St. (902)
423-6814 Write: Box 3611 . Halifax South Postal Sin. B3J 3K6

Sparrow (gay and lesbian Christians and Iriends), c/o Box
3611, South Stn, B3J 3K6 Meets Sun at 8 pm (902) 425-6967

NEWFOUNDLAND

Provincial

GGay Association in Newfoundland. Box 1364. Sin C. St John's,
A1C 5N5

GET YOUR GROUP
INTO NETWORK!

Network Is TBP's listing of lesbian and gay groups
throughout Canada and Quebec. It's a way ot
letting people in your part of the country know
what's happening, and a way of getting others
involved.

We'll gladly change, add or delete any informa-
tion on your group — just drop us a line!
Network, The Body Politic, Box 7289, Stn A,
Toronto, ON M5W 1X9.

18 □ THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY /AUGUST 1984

THE WORLD

City council seats in Sydney; rights protection in New South Wales

Celebrating victories in Australia

Three openly gay men were elected
to Sydney's city council April 17,
and the New South Wales state
government finally moved on May
22 to decriminalize gay sex be-
tween consenting adults.

Craig Johnston of the Australian La-
bour Party won a solid victory in
Sydney's Macquarie Ward. He has been
associated with the reform group of the
Labour Party and his election demon-
strated the swing against the party's aging
right-wing machine.

Brian McGahen's independent cam-
paign was based on his support in the gay
community, but he managed to win the
backing of important non-gay resident
groups. "The great achievement was that
my campaign was conducted by gay activ-
ists, and was conceived, designed and
funded entirely from within the gay com-
munity," he said. "Contrary to fears that
were expressed earlier, we were able to
develop links and alliances with a broad
selection of other groups in our area, so
ours became a local-resident as well as a
gay-community campaign."

A second independent, Bill Hunt, run-
ning in the Alexandria Ward, did not base
his campaign entirely on gay issues. He
has, however, been an active member of
the Gay Rights Lobby and discussed gay
rights whenever the issue arose. He was
open about being gay whenever asked.

"We should be careful not to think that
changes can be made too quickly," said
Johnston after the victory. "The elec-
tions of three openly gay people to City
Council is really only a small step toward
liberation."

In state politics, the long-awaited re-
form of the New South Wales Criminal
Code finally took place May 22, but not
before an amendment, which outraged
gay activists already cool to the bill's age-
of-consent provisions, was added to the
legislation. Before May 22, New South
Wales was one of the few places on earth
where it was illegal to discriminate against
lesbians and gay men, but it was also il-
legal for gay people to have sex.

The reform, introduced as a private
member's bill by Premier Neville Wran,
decriminalized gay sex for those over the
age of 18. Heterosex is legal at 16 years
of age.

A last-minute amendment introduced
by conservative parliamentarians called
for a two-year prison sentence for "any
person who advises, solicits, incites, pro-
cures, counsels, encourages or persuades
or attempts to procure or persuade a male
under the age of 18 years to have homo-
sexual intercourse."

The Premier himself commented that
such an amendment could be used against
teachers, social workers and counsellors
who merely offered advice. Although the
final draft deleted the word "counsel,"
the rest of the amendment was passed in-
to law with the bill.

A similar bill that would decriminalize
gay sex in West Australia is presently run-
ning into rough water in Labour Party
caucuses over the issue of age of consent.
This bill also sets 18 years as the age of
consent and has been criticized as "faint-
hearted and gutless" by those who wish
to see the principle of equality upheld .

In another victory in the neighbouring

Free speech in Melbourne: Alison Thome,
left, with friends outside magistrates' court

state of Victoria, charges against nine gay
men of the Pedophile Support Group of
conspiring to corrupt public morals were
dismissed by a judge May 10.

A police spy had infiltrated the group
and taped conversations at group meet-
ings, but the court ruled that individuals
talking about each others' sexual orienta-
tion over cups of tea was not a crime.

The magistrate's decision was a victory
for free speech. It also made a mockery
of the decision by the State of Victoria's
Education Minister to transfer technical-
school teacher Alison Thorne to a non-
teaching position after she spoke out in
defence of the men when they were ar-
rested in November, 1983. D

Five groups condemn
huge police sweeps

MEXICO CITY — Five Mexican lesbian
and gay groups issued a press bulletin
late in March denouncing massive police
sweeps that have resulted in the arrests
of hundreds of gay men in Mexico City
this spring.

The largest sweep took place late in
the evening of March 10. More than 50
patrol cars and 10 busloads of police
officers swooped down on the Zona
Rosa and the Colonia Roma districts, ar-
resting more than one thousand people,
most of them youths, prostitutes and
gay people. Press reports referred to
those arrested as "sluts, lowlife, drug
addicts, muggers, homosexuals and
drunks." Police justified their raid as
protecting the public from delinquency
and as part of the presidential campaign
for moral reform. Street crime has in-
creased as more and more Mexicans are
driven into abject poverty by the coun-
try's serious economic crisis.

The gay groups charged that "the
roundups have created in many localities
a virtual state of siege or curfew because
the police... detain without any legal
justification any individual they find in
the street."

The groups will try to collect 41,000
signatures on a petition to be presented
to President Miguel de la Madrid on In-
ternational Human Rights Day, denoun-
cing anti-gay police repression. The
country's sixth annual Lesbian and Gay

Pride Day march will take place in Mex-
ico City on June 30 and an act of pil-
grimage to the Basilica of Guadalupe is
being planned by gay Christian groups
to protest the negative attitude of the
Catholic Church hierarchy. □

Yugoslavs hold first
East Bloc conference

LJUBLJANA —The first gay festival in
an East Bloc country took place in this
Yugoslav state capital April 22 to 25 and
attracted lesbians and gay men, young
Yugoslavs into punk and new wave,
curious straights and a handful of jour-
nalists from both Eastern and Western
Europe.

Held in the city's Student Cultural
Centre, the conference was organized by
two gay men, Bogdan Lesnik, the Cen-
tre's secretary, and Aldo Lvacis. Enti-
tled "Homosexuality and Culture," the
event featured displays of books, maga-

zines and gay papers from around the
world, a disco night, and a film and
video series including such titles as The
Naked Civil Servant, Cruising, Taxi
Zum Klo and the new British work
Framed Youth (recently seized by the
Ontario censor board after a showing in
Toronto).

Ljubljana is the capital of the state of
Slovenia, which, along with Croatia, de-
criminalized homosexuality in 1977. Gay
sex remains prohibited in Serbia. Ironi-
cally, Ljubljana is a city well known for
its tolerance but it has no purely gay
clubs, and the city's only sauna has been
closed down by police. Belgrade, the
federal capital, has a far more developed
network of gay clubs and cruising areas.

The Ljubljana festival reveals a new
interest in gay liberation, which seems to
be spreading across the Yugoslav federa-
tion. As the festival closed, a gay film
festival was opening, and the Croatian
capital of Zagreb is the first city in the
Eastern Bloc to boast a regular gay radio
programme. □

US seeks deportation of "faggots"

HOLLYWOOD — The US Immigration
and Naturalization Service (INS) seems
determined to deport Tony Sullivan, an
Australian citizen, despite his 12-year
relationship with an American man. In a
second case, the US Supreme Court has
refused to overturn a federal law prohib-
iting homosexuals from becoming US
citizens.

Sullivan met Richard Adams in Los
Angeles in 197 1 and they have been liv-
ing together in California since April
1972. The two were legally married in
Boulder, Colorado in 1974 and Sullivan
applied for resident-alien status in the
US in 1975. Their marriage was subse-
quently ruled invalid by the Colorado
attorney-general, and the INS notified
the couple, "You have failed to establish

that a bona-fide marital relationship can
exist between faggots." After protest,
the notice was reissued without the word
"faggots."

In 1980, Sullivan asked for suspension
of his deportation order on the grounds
that his expulsion after an eight-year
relationship with Adams would consti-
tute "extreme hardship." On April 20 of
this year, however, the Department of
Justice's Board of Immigration Appeals
ruled, "We do not find that the respon-
dent's separation from his 'life partner'
will cause him hardship, emotional or
otherwise, sufficient to rise to the level
of extreme hardship contemplated under
the act."

The couple have filed an appeal that
will stay the deportation for several

Not wanted: Tony Sullivan (right) faces depor-
tation from the US despite 12-year rela-
tionship with lover Richard Adams, left

THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY/AUGUST 1984 U 19

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months pending a decision. When asked
what he and Sullivan would do if the ap-
peal court ruled against them, Adams
said, "I don't know. But we'll be togeth-
er, I know that."

In the second case, the US Supreme
Court refused to hear an appeal of a
Texas Federal Court decision which
denied citizenship to Richard Longstaff ,
a Dallas businessman who emigrated
from Britain 19 years ago. Although the
Texas court agreed that Longstaff was of
"good moral character," it denied him
citizenship on the grounds that, as a
homosexual, he has a "psychopathic
personality." As a result of the Supreme
Court decision, deportation proceedings
will begin, according to the Dallas direc-
tor of the INS. Longstaff is preparing to
extend his legal battle once again. □

Lesbians win rights
in restaurant fight

LOS ANGELES —Two lesbian lovers,
Zandra Rolon and Deborah Johnson,
have won a landmark decision against
Papa Choux, an elegant downtown res-
taurant that denied the couple a booth
they had reserved for a romantic dinner
in January 1983.

In a unanimous decision, three jus-
tices of the California Court of Appeals
overturned an earlier decision blocking
an injunction against the restaurant's
discriminatory practices. The judges up-
held the Los Angeles non-discrimination
code, which makes specific reference to
sexual orientation. The restaurant plans
to appeal.

The women's attorney, Gloria Allred,
said she was "ecstatic" with the deci-
sion. "It means that two men together
or two women together cannot be denied
equal accommodation, services or privi-
leges in California based on sexual pref-
erence. The decision applies not only to
restaurants but to theatres, stores, and
all business establishments."

"This case is about human dignity,"
Allred concluded. "It will be known as a
landmark, establishing as California law
that gay people do not have to ride in the
back of the bus or sit at the back of the
restaurant any more."D

Spanish groups meet;
protest Military Code

VITORIA — Representatives from gay-
liberation organizations across Spain met
here April 19 to 22 to debate strategies for
the future of the national coalition
COFLHEE (Coordinadora de los Frentes
de Liberaci6n Homosexual del Estado
Espaftol).

A principal issue was the wave of anti-
gay repression now sweeping the Spanish
armed forces.

The strategy debate centred on the
positions of the Catalan Gay Liberation
Front (FAGC) — which, like most Span-
ish organizations, has a long association
with the left — and the positions of the
more centrist newly formed group from
Madrid, AGAMA.

The FAGC position is that there are no
real homosexuals. Gay identity has been
created to isolate homosexuality and con-
fine it to the ghetto. True sexual libera-
tion is a matter of the revolutionary trans-
formation of society, together with other
social movements such as feminism, eco-
logy, pacifism, worker's struggles and
others, thereby freeing the homosexual
potential in everyone.

On the other hand, AGAMA's politics
focus on the most pressing concerns of

the gay community.

Although the two strategies reveal
political differences, the debate was
friendly and the conference reaffirmed its
traditional left orientation. Nor did the
differences inhibit unity on the issue of
repression within the Spanish military.
The entire conference took to the streets
of this normally restrained and conser-
vative provincial capital to demand the
abolition of anti-gay provisions in the
Spanish Military Code.

Although gay sex is not illegal in Spain,
the Military Code can punish those in the
armed forces with up to four years in
prison for the "practice of 'dishonest'
acts with a person of the same sex." Such
activity supposedly brings military
honour into disrepute.

The issue was brought to public atten-
tion March 1 when Antonio Mejias, a
young navy volunteer who had consensu-
al sex with another sailor, was sentenced
to four years in prison. Mejias's former
lover was given only a six-month sen-
tence, since he had since impregnated a
woman and was planning to get married.
Both men had already served several
months in prison while awaiting trial, and
Mejias was savagely gang-raped when he
returned to finish his sentence.

Although concrete statistics are not
available, it appears that as many as two
dozen men and women are tried in Span-
ish military courts every year for same-sex
love. In an editorial in the April issue of
its magazine Madrid Gai, AGAMA
charged that military provisions con-
travene the Spanish constitution. The
central government, however, has so far
failed to take up the issue. Rumours are
circulating that planned reforms of the
military code, upcoming this year, may
actually stiffen the penalties for consent-
ing homosexual activity within the
forces. □

Greek paper faces
new round of charges

ATHENS —The Greek government has
once again moved to silence the Greek
gay magazine Kraximo. A third round of
charges will be heard June 25.

The small libertarian-socialist tabloid,
published on pink paper by Paola, a
well-known Athens transvestite, success-
fully defended itself against indecency
charges laid in September 1982, but was
found guilty on December 1, 1983 of a
second charge concerning a drawing of
two naked men after Paola refused to
summon defence witnesses. The most re-
cent charges, laid in April, concern the
same drawing, and cite other "immoral"
passages in the same issue. As well,
Paola is charged with "insulting
authority."

The law on insults to authority was in-
stated by the military dictatorship and
was to have been replaced by another
law, which states that the "criticism of a
person possessing a public position how-
ever high cannot be considered an insult
against authority."

In the offending paragraph, Paola
criticized the prosecutor in the second
round of charges. "Three months after
the circulation of the third issue, the
well-known supporter of 'morality,' Mr
Theophanopoulos, decided to prosecute
it with the renowned Metaxic law about
indecency, which mangles the spontan-
eity and authenticity of human desire. Of
course there was nothing in Kraximo to
warrant this criminal prosecution." If
Paola is found guilty, this paragraph
could earn him a three-year prison
sentence.

The new charges came at a time of in-

20 □ THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY/AUGUST 1984

creasing police violence against Athens
gays and transvestites, including raids
and arbitrary arrests.

Kraximo is asking that letters of protest
be sent to Minister of Justice A Magakis,
Ministry of Justice, Socratous and
Zinonos 2, Athens, Greece with copies
and, if possible, donations to help in the
fight to Kraximo, c/o Magazine AMPHI,
6A Zalloggou St, Athens 142, Greece. □

Anti-pom bill passes;
bookstores fight back

INDIANAPOLIS — A bill outlawing
pornography as a form of sex discrimin-
ation has been signed by Mayor William
Hudnut, making Indianapolis the first
US city to adopt such a law.

The ordinance is modelled on one
written for the city of Minneapolis by
feminists Catharine MacKinnon and
Andrea Dworkin, which was vetoed
earlier this year. It supposedly protects
women from "discriminatory practices
of sexual subordination or inequality"
and states that pornography has the "ef-
fect (of) denying women equal oppor-
tunity in society." Pornography is de-
fined as "the sexually explicit subordina-
tion of women graphically depicted whe-
ther in pictures or in words" and includ-
ing pain, humiliation, pleasure in being
raped, penetration by objects or ani-
mals or scenes of degradation in a sexual
context. Complainants are given cause
for civil action through the Office for
Equal Opportunity against "perpetra-
tors, makers, distributors, sellers and ex-
hibitors" under sections covering "traf-
ficking of pornography," "coercion into
pornographic performance," and "as-
sault or physical attack due to pornogra-
phy." The statute calls for establishment
of an "equal opportunity advisory
board" to review complaints before they
are brought before the courts.

The amendment was introduced to the
Indianapolis /Marion County Council by
conservative Republican councilwoman
Beulah Coughenour. Coughenour is op-
posed to the Equal Rights Amendment
and to legalized abortion, and has called
civil-rights protection for gays and les-
bians "artificial" and "irrelevant." She
and Charlee Hoyt, the liberal feminist
sponsor of the Minneapolis bill, both
claim to share common ground on the
issue of pornography.

The day after the ordinance became
law, several bookstores, one with a large
gay clientele, were raided and the owners
and managers charged under Indiana
obscenity laws.

The new law has already been chal-
lenged as unconstitutional by an associa-
tion of publishers, distributors and
sellers of books and magazines.

A special task force set up in Minnea-
polis after its ordinance was vetoad fin-
ished work on May 8. It is unlikely that
the question will be revived, as the task
force found the proposed amendment
"not actionable. "□

Reagan's special bill
to battle kiddie pom

WASHINGTON — US President
Ronald Reagan recently signed a special
bill on the "Sexual Exploitation of Chil-
dren" that will increase fines for traf-
ficking in pornography featuring chil-
dren, raise the age of persons considered
children from 16 to 18, and increase the
powers of the Department of Justice to
investigate and prosecute recipients of
kiddie porn.

Bill HR3635 authorizes more wiretap-
ping, removes obscenity requirements
for confiscation of mail by US Customs
and eliminates requirements that only
material intended for commercial pur-
poses can be seized.

The bill also paves the way for expan-
sion of a project set up by Customs in
New York City, Chicago and Denver to
intercept shipments of child pornogra-
phy originating in Scandinavia. Customs
has compiled a list of 6,000 "potential
recipients" of pornography in the three
test cities. Jim Mahan, public-affairs
spokesperson for Customs in Washing-
ton DC, told The Weekly News that
Customs was only stopping "suspicious-
looking mail addressed to people (they)
know to be child molesters, or to those
suspected of dealing in child pornogra-
phy." He said Customs was concerned
with stopping shipments to "known
pedophiles,' ' but said they would not
"necessarily" confiscate mail addressed
to members of the North American
Man /Boy Love Association.

Reagan signed the bill at the end of a
two-day conference on pornography
sponsored by the justice department and
attended by US attorneys (the equivalent
of Crown attorneys), post-office work-
ers, local law-enforcement officers and
FBI members. The only Canadian
attending was David Scott, of the Toron-
to-based Action Group on Media Por-
nography. Scott chaired a symposium in
Toronto in February (see TBP, March)
on "Media Violence and Pornography,"
which was dominated by 20 US ' 'experts,"
including the Surgeon General and a
representative of the FBI, all claiming to
prove links between porn and violent
behaviour.

In addition to the special bill, Reagan
also announced that a commission is be-
ing established by US Attorney-General
William French Smith to "study the
dimensions of the problem." The Nixon
administration established a similar
commission in 1970, which concluded
that there was no link between violence
and pornography. Reagan and David
Scott have both stated that they believe
the issue needs to be re-examined. □

US Methodists vote
to ban gay ministers

BALTIMORE — The national confer-
ence of the United Methodist Church
has voted not to allow the ordination of
gay and lesbian candidates for the minis-
try. The one thousand delegates voted
568 to 404 to adopt a statement that
read, in part, that the "practice" of
homosexuality is "incompatible with
Christian teaching."

The debate over ordination for gay
people began in 1972 when Rev Gene
Leggett of Dallas came out and was sub-
sequently ousted from the ministry by
the church. Since that time, Rev Julian
Rush of Denver and Rev Paul Abels of
New York City revealed that they were
gay, but they were allowed to remain in
the pulpit.

Conference delegates had originally
voted 4% to 474 against the explicit ban
on gay clergy, asking that the Book of
Discipline call for "fidelity in marriage
and celibacy in singleness." Liberals
referred to the compromise as the
"seven last words" — the phrase that
refers to Christ's last words on the cross.
The Judicial Council ruled that "fidelity
in marriage and celibacy in singleness"
would not necessarily prevent gay men
and lesbians who were willing to remain
celibate from being ordained; the dele-
gates then adopted the original ban in a

$BM*S**>

THE BODY POLITIC I I JULY/AUGUST 1984 I 21

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second vote. The constitutionality of the
statement in the Book of Discipline has
been called into question, so the ques-
tion is not officially settled. The Judicial
Council will make a final ruling in late
October. □

New rales for police
may end entrapment

LONDON — British Junior Home
Office Minister David Mellor has an-
nounced in the House of Commons that
new guidelines will be issued to plain-
clothes police officers regarding investi-
gation of gay offences. Although Mellor
did not elaborate, UPI reports that a
government source claims regulations
will end entrapment of gay men by
police.

The new regulations may have some-
thing to do with two of the latest catches
in the English police net. The announce-
ment of the changes was made only two
days after the resignation of Keith
Hampson, parliamentary private secre-
tary to Defence Secretary Michael
Hesseltine. Hampson was arrested in the
Gay Theatre Club, a strip club in the
Soho district of London, and charged
with indecently assaulting a policeman.
Club manager Russell McLeod told the
London Daily Telegraph that plain-
clothes officers habitually act as "agents
provocateurs" in disputes at the club.

Earlier in May, Sir Peter Hayman,
former High Commissioner to Canada,
was convicted of gross indecency after
an incident in a public washroom last
February. Hayman pleaded not guilty,
claiming through his laywer that he
"merely succumbed in a moment of
complete weakness." He apologized to
the court, his family and his friends for
what happened.

Although two police officers claim to
have seen an unspecified "indecent act"
take place between Hayman and truck-
driver Leonard Beach, Beach claims a
uniformed policeman knocked on the
door before sex occurred. □

NOW swings weight
behind NJ rights bill

TRENTON — National Organization of
Women (NOW) President Judy Gold-
smith announced her organization's sup-
port for the effort to pass a state lesbian
and gay rights bill at the State Assembly
here May 23.

Bill A1721 would amend the New
Jersey Law Against Discrimination by
adding sexual orientation to the pro-
tected categories. It was introduced into
the State Assembly in March 1984 by
Assemblyman Bennett Mazure after
consultation with gay community
organizations.

NOW also announced the appoint-
ment of Rosemary Dempsey as the or-
ganization's official lobbyist for the bill.
Dempsey will be working to develop
support for the bill in the 80-member
House. The bill presently has won 21
sponsors in the Assembly.

NOW first expressed its support for
the rights of lesbians and gay men in
1971. Its support for the New Jersey
campaign is part of its "Lesbian and
Gay Rights '84" project. If the bill
passes, New Jersey will be the second
American state to guarantee gay rights.
(The first is Wisconsin.)

In conjunction with the NOW press
conference, the New Jersey Lesbian and
Gay Coalition released the results of a
fall 1983 survey of discrimination

against lesbians and gay men. Of those
polled, 10.4 percent had lost a job be-
cause they were homosexual; 5.9 percent
had been denied housing; 39 percent had
been harassed at a hotel or restaurant
and 17.1 percent had been victims of
anti-gay violence.

"National NOW will be here in New
Jersey supporting New Jersey NOW and
working with others to ensure passage of
this law," said Goldsmith. "We know
from our long experience in working for
equal rights for women that there will be
those who will oppose us. But we are
confident that most people will no long-
er tolerate discrimination in any form
and we are confident that our voices will
be heard ... this is a matter of simple
justice." □

Frequence Gaie coup
brings court control

PARIS — Frequence Gai, the world's
only full-time lesbian and gay radio sta-
tion, was placed under judicial adminis-
tration for three months on May 17, after
bitter fighting between staff and a few an-
nouncers who sit on the board of direct-
ors spilled out into the French courts.

The latest crisis at the station was
sparked May 3 when part of the board of
directors decided to dismiss 80 of the 150
announcers who work at the station.
Fearing the move would spark a major
outcry, a few of them removed the neces-
sary broadcasting equipment and locked
themselves in at the transmission site. The
station was off the air for 24 hours before
staff managed to evict the "pirates,"
repair the equipment and set up a make-
shift studio.

Both sides in the dispute appeared with
their lawyers before a court of referees
May 15, arguing their respective rights
and powers before a judge who seemed
befuddled by the complex legal structure
of the volunteer-run station. The station
is financed by listeners, and all those who
work on the station elect both the board
of directors and a board of production. It
appears that conflict between these two
boards and confusion concerning their
respective responsibilities is at the root of
the present dispute.

The deadlock in the court was finally
broken when the lawyer representing
Genevieve Pastre, former president of
Frequence Gai, and three other directors
not involved in the "coup" against the
announcers, argued that the situation was
so complicated and serious that only the
naming of an impartial provisional ad-
ministrator could possibly keep the sta-
tion functioning.

When the judge decided on this course .
of action, the four directors who had
sparked the crisis cut the connection be-
tween the station's studio and the trans-
mitter, and for the second time in ten
days staff set up a makeshift studio at the
transmission site while they waited for a
new administrator to be officially
appointed.

It is hoped that the new administrator
will be able to sort out the tangle of per-
sonal and power disputes that threaten to
tear the station apart and deprive the
French gay community of one of its most
important resources. □

World News credits

Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco; Washing/on
Bladeand NOW Press Release, Washinton, DC;
Campaign, Robert French and Ken Lovett, Sydney;
Yanni Vassilas, Athens; GaiPiedzni Homophonies,
Paris; Madrid Gai, Madrid ; Gay Community News,
Boston; GLC Voice, Minneapolis; The Weekly News,
Miami; Gay News, Philadelphia; Dallas Gay News,
Dallas; San Diego Gayzette, San Diego; New York
Native, New York .

22 □ THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY /AUGUST 1984

The most recent AIDS media blitz
featured the discovery of the
"cause" of acquired immune defi-
jj:j:j:j:j:;:j:j ciency syndrome. US scientists
SSSiw were busy tripping over each other
either to claim credit or to give it away to
the French. It was nearly a week before
they bothered to explain exactly what it
was that had been discovered.

Several highly respected newspapers
ran equivocal headlines over say-nothing
stories. On April 19, for example, The
Boston Globe said: "Virus believed to
cause AIDS is reportedly identified." And
three days later: "US to identify virus as
AIDS cause." After Secretary of Health
and Human Services Margaret Heckler's
press conference on April 23, they said,
"Virus tied to AIDS is identified, doctor
says."

It was not until Sunday the 24th that
the New York Times' s Science section
deigned to explain in detail what the scien-
tific part of the fuss was about: the devel-
opment by Dr Robert Gallo of the Na-
tional Institute of Health's National Can-
cer Institute, in Bethesda, Maryland, of a
special super-cell that could harbour
human T-lymphotropic virus-Ill (HTLV-
III) long enough to cultivate that virus in
large quantities. HTLV-III, Gallo believes,
is the primary cause of AIDS.

Gallo 's development was important be-
cause scientists need to produce sufficient
quantities of suspect viruses in order to
duplicate in the laboratory the natural
progression of any viral disease in
humans. Ultimately, they must duplicate
the illness in laboratory animals in order
to develop a vaccine.

The difference between finding a virus
and figuring out how to mass-produce it
is both scientifically and professionally
significant for competitive researchers.
Inventing tools and techniques reeks of
manufacturing, while the discovery of a
new source of evil for the boys in white to
gun down is heroic. If you discover both
the virus and the technique, you are prac-
tically a god. That is exactly what Gallo
claimed to have done.

There was, however, one hitch. The
Institute Pasteur in Paris had already an-
nounced, almost a year before, that it had
isolated lymphadenopathy-associated
virus (LAV), which their studies indicate is
the likely cause of AIDS.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
in Atlanta, the other major US govern-
ment research facility investigating AIDS
along with the National Institute of
Health (NIH), has consistently credited
the French with the discovery of the likely
agents causing AIDS. James O Mason,
head of the CDC, congratulated Gallo for
development of a new method for produ-
cing large quantities of HTLV-lll in the
laboratory. But that was all. The hint was
that the NIH had been less than vigorous
in pursuing the French LAV — which
might be the same virus as HTLV-III.
Clearly, something was amiss between the
boys in Bethesda and their colleagues in
Atlanta.

The NIH, Margaret Heckler and even
the Times, once they had caught the drift
of what was happening, told the story a
little differently. The French discovery
took a back seat to the development of
the process to mass-produce HTLV-III.
God-like status was to be secured for the
US "team" in the AIDS Olympics.

No one wants to come out and accuse
doctors of obstructing AIDS research,
although Dr Roger Enlow, Director of
the Office of Gay and Lesbian Health
Concerns in the department of health in
New York City, came fairly close. Enlow,
the key player in the political arena of the
AIDS fight, wrote in a letter to the New
York Native, "...given that Dr Gallo and
associates have been able to grow HI I V

ANALYSIS

TLVIII

Announcement of the discovery

of the "cause" of AIDS has led to a lot of

high hopes, but a look behind the

headlines shows that the battle may

have just begun.

A report by Cindy Patton

III from as many as fifty different speci-
mens from as many different individuals,
and the fact that others, most notably the
group at the Institute Pasteur, have iso-
lated T-lymphotropic virus (LAV), it is in-
conceivable to me that Dr Gallo and his
co-workers have been to date unable to
consider LAV at least as fully as his other
isolates. LAV has been available to him
repeatedly and must have been placed in-
to culture with his innovative cell line
from which he so readily grows these
others. Evidence that these viral isolates
and others from around the world are
one and the same would add essential evi-
dence that these isolates cause the disease
we now call AIDS. Withholding or ob-
scuring such information is reprehensible
behavior of the gravest sort."

•
We need to believe that doctors, and by
extension medical researchers, are acting
in our interests. But medicine and medi-
cal research are, in fact, major industries,
motivated by prestige and money. The re-
searcher is given grants based on her or
his past work; the more impressive it has
been, the more likely one is to receive fur-
ther funding. And the various chemical
and drug companies, closely connected
with some of the top researchers in every
field, are waiting in the wings with their
patent lawyers. Medical and scientific dis-
coveries do not end up in the public do-
main. Mere mortals only benefit from
these rarified bits of genius when they
trickle down into actual drugs and tests
— all at a hefty cost to the consumer.

Gallo, because of his years of research
on the HTL family of viruses, was asked
to be a scientific advisor to Cambridge
BioScience, a major biotechnology firm
which has applied for patents on HTL
viruses in 17 countries. The company re-
scinded its offer to Gallo, however, be-
cause of confusion over whether NIH pol-
icy permits senior scientists to serve as
consultants to private firms. But crass
commercialism remains a problem for the
future. If HTLV-lll proves to be the agent
responsible for AIDS, Cambridge Bio-
Science will be the primary owner of the
key to some of the most important
secrets of the human immune system —
perhaps even the answer to the riddle of
cancer. The company's research pro-
gramme will be very lucrative: future
research grants, income from a highly
marketable vaccine and other AIDS

related products — and possibly a Nobel
Prize — are at stake.

An AIDS vaccine, however, may not
pay off for a while. Despite Heckler's
sweeping claim that it is only two years
away, most doctors believe it is unlikely
that a vaccine will be widely available
soon, if one can be developed at all. It
took nearly ten years to get Hepatitis-B
vaccine, and there is still no vaccine for
toxic shock, which is a much less complex
syndrome than the elusive AIDS.

•
The discovery of HTLV-III is important to
our understanding of AIDS. But equally
important are the gamma interferon trials
and other experimental treatment pro-
grammes which seem to show a glimmer
of hope that those with AIDS may see im-
provement, at least for a while, in their
condition. Why the emphasis, then, on
virus-hunting? The tip-off was emblaz-
oned across the full-colour USA Today of
April 24: "AIDS test to cut risk in trans-
fusions." A quick and easy "safe blood

"A quick and easy 'safe
blood test' to reassure
the nervous general
public makes better
press than tentative
measures to alleviate the
symptoms of the small
minority of people who
already have
AIDS."

test" to protect — and reassure — the
nervous general public makes better press
than tentative measures to alleviate the
symptoms of the small minority of people
who already have AIDS.

But even the possibility of such a blood
test is in doubt. To date, all we know is
that HTLV-III/I AV is linked to AIDS in
such a statistically significant number of
cases that it may be considered "the
cause." An "AIDS test" wouldn't look
for the virus itself, but for an antibod) . a
substance produced by the body in reac
lion to the presence of 8 virus. Hut DO one
yet knows the relationship between the

presence of antibodies and exposure to
this virus. Do people have antibodies only
when the virus is present? Or does the
presence of antibodies indicate that one
used to carry a virus that's now been
wiped out? Can the virus be present with
no antibodies? Does the virus lay dor-
mant for some period of time and trigger
antibodies after some other set of
unknown factors has come into play?
There is a great deal of research ahead
before the antibody screening technique
for this virus has much medical meaning.

Despite the lack of hard medical know-
ledge about such a test, it could end up
being used as a legal device to identify in-
fected people and institute quarantines.
Several state health departments in the
US have dusted off their quarantine stat-
utes, and all that is missing is a test to sep-
arate those who should be quarantined
from those who shouldn't. With "AIDS
tests" grabbing publicity, some people
seem to think they've found it.

But HTLV-III doesn't fit the bill. We
don't yet know how it might work to
cause AIDS — or even whether it could do
so all by itself. AIDS isn't very contagious,
and that fact has led many researchers to
believe that a primary agent must work in
concert with other factors before the con-
dition can develop. Host factors — gene-
tic makeup or past medical history —
may make some people more susceptible
to infection, and co-factors — other in-
fectious agents — may also have to be
present before AIDS can set in. It is even
possible that HTLV-III is simply another
one of the opportunistic infections that
show up when the immune system is sup-
pressed, and that it may not be responsi-
ble for triggering that suppression.

Still, for a panicked public, the idea of
a simple test makes quarantine more
tempting. That could mean anything
from barring people from specific jobs to
confining those who've been exposed to
HTLV-III, from the policing of the baths
and bushes to the closing of gay
establishments.

We can't lay all the doomsday specula-
tion at the establishment's door, how-
ever. Parts of the gay community in San
Francisco participated in banning sex
from the baths. A little bit of medical
knowledge can be dangerous thing. As we
keep a watchful and skeptical eye on
scientists sorting out these discoveries, we
must also keep a clear view of where we
stand.

The rudimentary discovery of HTLV-lll
cannot be passed off as the end of AIDS.
We have several more years before a vac-
cine is available, years in which people
who have not been exposed to AIDS may
contract it. If the current rate of increase
continues, we may be facing 30,000 cases
in the US alone before this discovery
means anything to us, or to the life of the
fragile community we've worked so hard
to build. The personal and collective
crises we face in that community are not
over — and the political battle has barely
begun. We have to maintain pressure on
funding and watchdog agencies to be sure
that research doesn't end with publicity-
rousing blood tests. Educational efforts
must continue so we can make informed
choices when the time comes for individ-
ual or group decisions about the conduct
of our sexual and political lives.

No solution to AIDS will be complete
until we are neither blamed for the dis-
ease, nor forced to live in fear for our
lives. D

( uulv Patton, a former managing atuc

Boston's ("iv ( ommiinilv Sens, currently in
i-\ilc m Provincetown, />. working on a /xx>A
on the politics oj AIDS, tentatively titled
Diseast iinii l ihiriiiion. to be published b) iin

South I nil /V(-w

THE BODY POLITIC I 1 JULY/AUOl S I |>>S4 23

ART

IAN THOM

□JAC. Paintings and drawings, with new
work, by the gay art collective made up of
John Grube, Alex Liros and Clarence Barnes.
Punchinello Gallery, 204A Baldwin St
(593-5054). June 20 to July 8. Opening June
20, 8 pm. Regular hours: Thurs-Sun, 1-5 pm.

□ David Hockney. Hockney is all over town
these days. The big show at the Art Gallery of
Ontario (317 Dundas St W, 977-0414), and
smaller shows of prints at the Albert White
(25 Prince Arthur, 923-8804) and Mira
Godard (22 Hazelton, 964-8*197) provide an
excellent opportunity to see the extent and
quality of his work.

□ Loring-Wyle Parkette. Four works (inclu-
ding busts of each other) by the late sculptors
Frances Loring and Florence Wyle have been
installed on the northeast corner of Mt Plea-
sant and St Clair, near the old church in
which the two lived and worked together for
almost 60 years. They are worth a visit, par-
ticularly Wyle's The Harvester.

□ Leonardo da Vinci. Studies for The Last Sup-
per, some of the most magnificent drawings
ever created. Through Aug 12 at the Art Gallery
of Ontario, 317 Dundas St W (977-0414).

Dressing Up. "An off-the-wall fashion
show and dance party," produced by Tim
Jocelyn, and featuring a crowd of local artists
dressing themselves up to celebrate summer.
Art Gallery at Harbourfront, 235 Queen's
Quay W. June 2 1 , 9 pm . Tickets $6 at 869-84 1 2
or BASS.

^The Canadian Bodybuilder. A show of
competition photographs for the connoisseur
of muscle. Through June 30. Lemos Galeria
461 KingStE.Tues-Sat, 12-4.

□ Altered Situations/Changing Strategies: The
Canadian Worker in the Art of the 80s. A
group show including work by Michael Con-
stable, Lisa Steele, and the cultural magazine
FUSE. Through July 21 . A Space, 204 Spadina
Ave (364-3227).

Georgian Canada — Conflict and Culture.
A splendid array of art and artifacts, celebra-
ting Ontario's bicentennial, through Oct 21 at
the Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park
(Mon-Sat, 10-8, Sun 10-6). There is also a fine
little show of prints and watercolours in the
Canadiana Bldg, 14 Queen's Park W (Mon-
Sat 10-5, Sun 1-5), through the summer.

JON KAPLAN

Misfit. A performance-art piece by David
McLean about the "outsider" in society.
The single character is a gay man whose idol
is Marilyn Monroe. July 25, 8 pm. Club
Rivoli, 334 Queen St W. 596-1908.

Privates on Parade. The original stage ver-
sion of Peter Nichols's work about how Brit-
ish troops in the Far East entertained them-
selves — drag shows appear to have been of
maximum importance. This Theatre Plus ver-
sion features Tom Kneebone. July 23-Aug 18.
St Lawrence Centre, 27 Front St E. 366-7723.

□ Top Girls. Caryl Churchill's most success-
ful work after Cloud 9, about the means that
a woman has to use to achieve success in a
male world. Through July 1, with possible
holdover. Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman
Ave. 531-1827.

□ Death in Venice. Benjamin Britten's last
opera, based on the Mann novella about an
aging artist seeking supreme beauty and
finding it in a young boy. The work, present-
ed as part of the Toronto International Festi-
val, is as much about aesthetic ideals as it is
about physical beauty. June 24, 26, 28, 30.
O'Keefe Centre, Front & Yonge. 766-3271.

_ Yankees at York. Theatre Autumn Angel's
celebration of the Toronto and Ontario

JAC • NEW WORKS AT PUNCHINELLO FROM JUNE 20

birthday festivities, done at historic Fort
York and featuring giant puppets, dance,
and other theatrical effects. The script is by
Sky Gilbert; the music is by Micah Barnes.
Through July 29. 365-0533.

□ Trafford Tanzi. The National Arts Centre
production of Claire Luckham's innovative
look at the battle of sexual politics, in which
Tanzi literally half-nelsons her way through
life in order to become an independent per-
son — the theatre becomes a wrestling arena
for the main event. In collaboration with
Toronto Free Theatre. Through June 24. 26
Berkeley St. 368-2856.

Deathtrap. York Centennial Theatre pre-
sents a local version of Ira Levin's play
about an established playwright and his
handsome young "protege." Alumnae Thea-
tre, 70 Berkeley St. 364-4170.
DA Taste of Honey. Shelagh Delaney's 1958
play about disaffected youth in a lower-class
British tenement. The central character is be-
friended by a gay artist who lives in her
building. Through July 14. Theatre Plus, St
Lawrence Centre, 27 Front St E. 366-7723.
DA Midsummer Night's Dream. Toronto
Free Theatre expects about 60,000 people to
see their new outdoor production (directed by
R H Thomson) of Shakespeare's comedy. The
stage is just east of the Grenadier Restaurant
in the middle of High Park; it is suggested that
patrons bring blankets. Free. July 14-Aug 12,
Tues-Sun, 8 pm, and Wed, 2:30 pm.
Confirm on day of performance at 368-2856.

□ Shaw Festival. Summer entries include re-
vivals of last year's excellent Private Lives,
starring Fiona Reid and artistic director

Christopher Newton, and of Coward's early
play The Vortex, a work about the dark side
of the "bright young things" of the '20s.
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. 361-1544
(toll-free Toronto line).

□ Stratford Festival. While classics like
Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night 's
Dream play the main theatre, the Avon
Theatre devotes itself to Gilbert & Sullivan.
Returning from past seasons are The
Mikado, all lustrous Japanese design and
pleasant melodies; The Gondoliers, a lesser-
known work that presents Douglas Cham-
berlain as the Duchess of Plaza-Toro; and
the new entry this year, lolanthe, featuring
Maureen Forrester as the Queen of the
Fairies (reputedly to be flown onto the stage
by nineteenth-century equipment). The dil-
emma of Strephon, the operetta's hero, is
that he is a mortal from the waist up and a
fairy from the waist down. All three produc-
tions are directed by Brian Macdonald. In
repertory. Stratford, Ontario. 363-4471 (toll-
free Toronto line).

DANCE

RON BEN-ISRAEL

□ Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal. The

best modern dance theatre company in the
world today. While harking back to the pre-
Hitler German theatre tradition, Bausch ex-
plores modern sexual and political issues,
especially the subjugation of women. Two
programmes, Cafe Muller and Le Sacre du
Printemps (June 26, 27 and 28) and 1980
(June 29 and 30). Ryerson Theatre, 43 Ger-

□ The Not-So-Great Movie. Frankie Avalon
and a buddy don women's clothing to infil-
trate a girls' skiing school, in the 1965 double-
star Ski Party. CITY-TV, June 24, 2:30 pm.

CINEMA

GLEND0N McKINNEY

□ Une Journee en Taxi. This quiet, leisurely
Quebec film has similarities to another
superb French film, Entre Nous. What the
women of that film knew instinctively, the
need for love in friendship, the two men in
Taxi must learn. One is serving an eight-year
prison term, out on a 36-hour leave, and the
other is a widowed taxi driver he hires to
chauffeur him through Montreal in search of
those responsible for his imprisonment. Both
labour under emotional restrictions placed
on them by the world and by themselves.
They learn, together, what it is to be human,
and their journey to friendship is well worth
watching. (Carlton Cineplex).

□ Privates on Parade. Unlike the overrated
La Cage aux Folles, this film loves its char-
acters. We always laugh with them, not at
them, and the spectacle of wonderfully anar-
chist poofs confronting the relentlessly
straight, awesomely naive John Cleese makes
for some terrific laughs. (Carlton Cineplex
and Market Square).

□The Fourth Man. See box p 27.

NIGHTLIFE

• Members of Lambda Business Council

Check TBP's Key to Summer '84 in
Toronto on page 29 for a map showing
locations of places listed here.

RESTAURANTS

Bemelman's Fashionably cruisy pop singles bar, pricey
restaurant. 83 Bloor St W 960-0306.
DCatt New Orleans. Best people-peeking perch In town
(it'll take your mind off the tood). Patio always packed. 618
Yonge St. 922-2439

• Les Cavaliers. Continental menu, daily specials. 418

Church St. 977-4702.

Chaps Cafe Noon-9 pm, including $1 .99 soup/sand-
wich lunch special. $5-$6 range 9 Isabella St, 921-3012.

Church Street Can). Popular brunch locale in the heart ot
the ghetto. Daily to 12, Sun: 10 am-5pm. 485 Church St.
925-1155.

• Crispins/Buddy's. Innovative cuisine, great wines.

Brunch: $6.95. 66 Gerrard St E. 977-1919.

• Crow Bar. Full menu, easy atmosphere, with popular pix
shown at 8 pm, Mon-Fri. 10 Breadalbane (behind Parkside

Tavern). 923-6136.

• 18 East Hotel & Tavern. Inexpensive home-cooked

meals. Sunday brunch $3.95. 18 Eastern Ave. 368-4040.

DFare Exchange. Small neighbourhood caf6. 4 Irwin Ave

923-5924.

DThe Fat Squirrel. At Cornelius 579 Yonge St. 967-4666

I Fenton's. The one place to go if you've only one place to

go (and can afford it). Less expensive room downstairs. 2

Gloucester St. 961-8485

Golden Griddle. Pancakes, etc, inexpensive place for
Sunday brunch. 45 Carlton St. 977-5044.

• Jennie's. Chic restaurant Live music Fri-Sun nights;
Sunday brunch 360 Queen St E (at Parliament). 861-1461

• Lipstick. Daytime meals, late night snacks, and loud

music. 4:30 pm-3 am (4 am weekends). 580 Parliament St
922-6655.

24 □ THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY /AUGUST 1984

II

II

ANNIE LENNOX

EURYTHMIC8

KINGSWOOD MUSIC THEATRE

WED • AUGUST 8

• Pimblett's. Gaudy, friendly British pub. Import draught,
desserts. 249 Gerrard St E. 929-9525.

"Queen Mother CahS. New wave, artsy crowd, with ima-
ginative eats. 206 Queen St W. 598-4719.

• Raclette French cuisine and great by-the-glass wine list
361 Queen St W. 593-0934.

DRivoli. Exotic snacks, inventive specials and a colourful
crowd 334 Queen St W. 596-1908.

Le Select Bistro. Bistro lunches and late night dining.
328 Queen St W. 596-6405
□ Sgana Landing. Patio restaurant. Seafood, "tour of
France" specials. 40 Stadium Road (Bathurst &
Lakeshore), 368-7794.

□Together. Continental menu, specials. Sunday:
allyoucaneat/$6 457 Church St. 923-3469.

• The Albany Tavern. 158 King St E. 861-1155. Dancing,
patio.

• The Barn. 83 Granby St. 977-4702. Casual stand-up bar
and disco. After-hours Fri and Sat till 4 am ($2 cover).
□Boots (at the Selby). 592 Sherbourne St. 921-1035.
Dance floor, lounge.

• Buddy's Backroom Bar. 370 Church St 977-9955.
Chatty, casual stand-up bar

□ Bud's (at Hotel Selby). 592 Sherbourne St. 921-3142.
Raunchy video, dance floor

□ Cameo Club. 95 Trinity St 368-2824 Licensed private
dance club for women Fri and Sat only.

• Les Cavaliers. 418 Church St. 977-4702 Piano sing-
along bar, very chatty.

□ Chaps. 9 Isabella St (at Yonge). 921-3012. Large up-
stairs disco, downstairs bar with risque slides and video
Sidewalk patio.

□Cornelius. 579 Yonge St. 967-4666 Dance floor, dining
area. Open 4 pm. $1 a beer till 8 pm weeknights.

• Crow Bar. 10 Breadalbane St (laneway behind Parkside
Tavern) 923-6136. Video Mon-Sal,

4 pm-3am, Sun4pm-1 am

The Hitch'n'Post. 529 Yonge St Leather bar/ restaurant
Mon-Fn, 7:30 pm-10 pm. Fri/Sat, midnight to 3 am. Sun
brunch noon to 4 pm and dinner: 5 pm-10 pm 925-9998.

Katrina's. 5 St Joseph St 961-4740 Stand-up bar with
dance floor Fri and Sal to 4 am Sun T-dances Cover
charge weekends Dining lounge
□Oz. 1 1sabella St. 961-0790 Large bar and disco, lotsa
lesbians Also after hours ($3)

Parkside Tavern. 530 Yonge St. 922-3844 Men s
beverage room, side entrance Closed Sun

The Quest. 665 Yonge St 964-8641 Bar. dining room
Upstairs: Rusty's Cabaret, with regular cover-charge drag
entertainment

St Charles Tavern. 488 Yonge St 925-5517 Large
beverage rooms

The Surfboard Tavern. New lesbian bar. in basement of
Hotel California 319 Jarvis St (side entrance)

Together 457 Church St 923-3469 Lesbian bar. dining
room

The Tool Box. Leather club bar with patio, meals. Club
night Thurs 18 Eastern Ave 869-9294

• The Barracks. 56 Widmer St. 593-0499. Leather/
denim. 6 pm-10 am; 24 hours on weekends.

• The Club. 231 Mutual St 977-4629. 24 hours.

• The Roman's Health and Recreation Spa. 742 Bay SI
598-2110. 24 hours.

□Chaps. See Bars, above.

□Club Manatee. 11A St Joseph St. 922-1898. Male only,
youngish crowd. Not licensed. Fri & Sat: 10 pm-6 am; Sun:
10:30 pm-3:30 am. Live shows Sat at 2 am, Sun at mid-
night.

□Oz. See Bars, above.

□Pan AM Dances. Tues nights at the Rivoli, 334 Queen St
W from 8 pm. New wave.

□Stages. 530 Yonge St 928-0492. Fri-Sat 12 to 5 am.

Sun 10:30 pm-4 am. $6.

□Twilight Zone. 185 Richmond St W. 977-3347. New

wave Weekends. $8.

□Voodoo Club. 9 St Joseph St (above Katrina's).

960-9335 Newwave. Weekends. $5.

ACCOMMODATION

□Cabbagetown Lodging-House and Efficiencies. 300

Wellesley St E (at Parliament). Call Bill or Allen, 961-9320.
□Catnaps Guesthouse. 246 Sherbourne St 968-2323. Fif-
teen rooms, waterbeds, TV lounge, pool table and game
room, laundry and kitchen facilities, free parking, sundeck,
complimentary rolls and coffee. Sun-Thurs, $25; Fri, Sat.
holidays, $30 Visa/Mastercard.
□18 East Hotel. 18 Eastern Ave. 368-4040 Bar and dining
room, 22 rooms, TV lounge, sauna, gym, laundry facilities,
sundeck, free parking. 1 or 2 people: $24, weekend rates.
□The Selby Hotel. 592 Sherbourne St. 921-3142

SUN, SEXUALITY, STYLE AND WIT

The sun was shining, a gentle breeze was blowing, and the crowd was friendly, as pictures
were perused, wine was sipped, and artists were chatted to. The June 3 Gay Art Show, spon-
sored by the Lambda Business Council, was, all in all, a very pleasant experience.

The first, and I hope annual, one-day exhibition brought together about 70 works by 24 art-
ists. There was a good range of subject and style, from the overt sexuality of Andy Fabo 's
Three Graces to Eric Parker's witty He only loved bits and pieces of people. There were fine
paintings by Matt Gould, constructions by Doug Morrison (I particularly liked Blue Horizon)
and, for the nostalgia buff, hand-coloured photos byAngie Coloni (below).

A benefit for the Gay Community Appeal (to which the artists donated at least 25% of any
sale), the show attracted almost 600 people and resulted in 21 sales, totalling over a thousand
dollars. It was a very positive experience, I am sure, for both artists and viewers.

Ian TAwnU

Victorian-style hotel; bar, dining room 72 rooms. No
housekeeping 1-2 people with private bath: $35; without:
$27.

COMMUNITY

Toronto Gay Community Council 105 Carlton SI. 4th floor.
MSB 1M2 Umbrella organization ot lesbian and gay groups
Forum for sharing information and discussing political strategies

SOCIAL &
POLITICAL ACTION

GAIDS Committee of Toronto. See Health, below
DBeaches Area Gays. Meets Thurs nights, after 9 pm. at Conti-
nental Flair Lounge (in the Beach Mall). 1971 Queen St E (at
Waverley)

HBridges. 118 Spruce St, M5A 2J5 Michael Riordon
(923-8089) Group connecting lesbian, gay and third world libera
tion struggles

Chutzpah 730 Bathurst St. M5S 2R4 489-4662 Group for
Jewish gay men and lesbians and friends

Coalition tor Gay Rights in Ontario (CGRO). Box 822. Stn A
M5W 1G3 533-6824 Toronto ottice 730 Bathurst St. M5S 2R4
^Committee to Defend John Damien 1508-914 Yonge St.
M4W 3C8 925-6729

Foolscap (Oral History Project). Conducting interviews with gay
people John Grube. 961-8947

Foundation lor the Advancement ol Canadian Transsexuals
(FACT) - Toronto. 519 Church St Community Centre M4Y 2C9

Gay Alliance at York, c/o CYSF. 105 Central Sq. York University
4700KeeleSt.Downsview. 0NM3J 1P3 667-2515

Gay Asians Toronto. Box 752. Stn F M4Y 2N6 Info Alan at
Glad Day Bookshop. 961-4161

Gay Association ot Maritimers in Toronto. 730 Bathurst St
M5S 2R4 Suppon group lor Maritimers moving to Toronto

Gay Community Appeal ol Toronto Box 2212. Stn P M5S 2T2
869-3036 Fund-raising tor gay and lesbian community protects

Gay Community Dance Committee (GCDC) 730 Bathurst St.
M5S 2R4 Organizes community lund-raising dances

Gay Courtwatch Room 337 Old City Hall (Queen and Bay)
362-6928

Gay Fathers ol Toronto Box 187 Stn F M4Y 2L5 364-4164
weeknights

Gay Liberation Against the Right Everywhere (GLARE) Box 793
StnO M4T 2N7

Gay SIG. Drawer C622. c/o The Body Politic Box 7289 Stn A
MSW 1X9 Gioup ol gay members ol MENSA in Canada

Gay Sell-Oelence Group Box 793. Sin Q. M4T 2N7 423 4803
Organizes courses in selldelence in and outside ol Toronto

Gay Youth ot Toronto. 730 Bathurst St M5S 2R4 533-2867
Phone counselling Mon Wed Fn 7 pm 10 pm

Gays and Lesbians at U ot T c/o SAC Office 12 Hart House Cir-
cle. University ol Toronto. MSS 1A1 360 6339

GEM Gay Community Outreach Box 62 Brampton ON L6V 2K7
Peel Region (BramptonMississauga) group lor gays and lesbians
GaylineWesl 453-4426

GLAD (Gay/Lesbian Action Iw Disarmament) Box 5794 Sin A
MSW 1P7 921 1938

Glad Day Defence Fund 648A Yonqe Si M4Y 2A6 9614161

international Gay Association (Toronto) c o Gay Community
Council

Lesbian and Gay Academic Society I I SAC 12 Had House C«
cle. UoM M5S 1A1 921 S317 (Conrad) 0» 924 6474
lAiexandia)
continued p 30

POLITIC L 1 JULY /AUGUST 1984 25

BodyPolitic

&£ktiu£tir

CALENDAR

OF EVENTS IN

TORONTO FROM

WEDNESDAY

JUNE 20

TO

FRIDAY

AUGUST 31

WATCH FOR
UPDATES TO THIS
CALENDAR THROUGH-
OUT THE SUMMER IN

XTRA

AVAILABLE IN BARS,

RESTAURANTS AND

CLUBS ACROSS THE CITY

TWICE A MONTH

WED/JUNE 20

□ JAC. Opening night of the gay art collec-
tive's new show. See Art.

THURS/JUNE21

(.a> Fathers of Toronto Annual Meeting.
Info: 364-4164.

□ Dressing Up. Fashion show and dance
party at Harbourfront. See Art.

□ "Transsexuals." See TV/Radio.

FRI/JUNE22

□ Canoe Weekend. Out & Out, 927-0970.

SAT/JUNE 23

□ Not-So- Amazon Softball League. The

230-member lesbian league plays every Sat
and Sun from 12:30 on in the Riverdale (west
side) and Keelesdale Parks, and from 3 pm
at Dovercourt Park (Dufferin & Bloor).
Come and watch teams like the Rubyfruit
Tarts and Bats Outta Hell slug it out!

□ Cabbagetown Group Softball League. The
gay league plays every Sat and Sun from 1 1
am through the afternoon, in Riverdale Park
(east side, north diamond).

□ "All Night Long." Except for August's
boat cruise (see Aug 1 1), this is the Gay Com-
munity Dance Committee's only event until
the Oct 27 Hallowe'en dance. Two dance
floors, 9 pm to 5 am. Proceeds to a wide
variety of lesbian and gay groups. Licensed.
Tickets $7 advance at Glad Day Bookshop,
or $8 at door, or $5 after 1:30 am. The Con-
cert Hall, 888 Yonge St.

□ "Strawberry Fields Forever!" A bike ride
out to a berry farm for a harvest. Out &
Out, 927-0970.

SUN/JUNE 24

□ Chutzpah Brunch. 1 pm, at the Art
Gallery of Ontario's patio restaurant, 317
Dundas St W. Info: 489-4662.

□ Special MCC Service. Reverend Nancy
Radclyffe, chaplain of the Spiritual Life and
Clergy Care Centre in Los Angeles, is the
guest preacher for the Metropolitan Commu-
nity Church's 1 1 am service. 730 Bathurst St.

□ Parachuting. With Out & Out's airborne
division. Beginners welcome. 927-0970.

□ Death in Venice. See Theatre.

TUES/JUNE26

□ Tanztheatre Wuppertal. See Dance.

WED/JUNE 27

□ Gay Community Council Meeting. Forum
for sharing info and debating issues. 519
Church St Community Centre, 7:30 pm.
Info: 923-GAYS or CGRO (533-6824).

THURS/JUNE28

□ Canada Day Barbecue. Out & Out's
annual summer biggie, with fireworks to top
off the evening. Cost: $7. 927-0970.

FRI/JUNE29

□ Canada Cup. Weekend tournament hosted
by the Cabbagetown Group Softball League,

i& x. m

PRE-SPEEDO HIGH FASHION

ON THE BEACH AT H ANLAN'S

POINT, AROUND 1900

UN JOURNEE EN TAXI • AT THE CARLTON CINEMAS

with teams expected from Vancouver, the
States, and even Europe. Riverdale Park,
east side of valley, throughout weekend.

□ The Fourth Man. Opening night of the ac-
claimed Dutch film. See box next page.

□ Out & Out Canoe Weekend. 927-0970.

SUN/JULY 1

□ Lesbian and Gay Pride Day '84. Clowns,
comedians, dance bands, an auction, and a
street parade — including floats from various
gay groups and businesses — are some of this
year's highlights. Among the treasures being
auctioned are a houseboat weekend for
eight, works by Toronto artists, a ride with
the Amazon motorcycle club, and much
more, with Alderman Jack Layton acting as
auctioneer (credit cards and cheques ac-
cepted). All happening in and around
Cawthra Park, next to the 519 Church St
Community Centre (just north of Church &
Wellesley) from 1 pm on.

TUES/JULY3

□ Summer Day Camp. A project for chil-
dren of lesbian and gay parents, organized
by the 519 Church St Community Centre,
and running till Aug 31. $20 per child for en-
tire summer. Penny Lamy, 923-2770.

WED/JULY 4

□ Lutherans Concerned. Meeting at 8 pm.
Info: David or James, 463-7354.

□ Lesbian Phone Line Meeting. Prospective
volunteers welcome. 348 College St, 3rd
floor. 7:30 pm. 960-3249.

THURS/JULY5

□ Swim Wear Parade. At Buddy's, 370
Church St, from 9:30 pm. Beer 99<t all night
to anyone in anything brief.

FRI/JULY6

□ Gay Fathers Potluck Supper. Friends and
family welcome. 7:30 pm. Info: 364-4164.

SAT/JULY 7

□ Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf meeting.

519 Church St Community Centre, 1-4 pm.

SUN/JULY 8

□ Dignity (Gay Catholics) Service. With
special liturgy organized by women in Dig-
nity. See Sundays.

FRI/JULY 13

□ Gay Bingo Night. The Toronto Historical
Bowling Society hosts what is sure to be a
fun evening, 8 pm in the St Lawrence Market
(Front & Jarvis). $3500 in prizes. To con-
firm, call 423-5955. A fund-raising event for
the Maple Leaf Classic in August.

SAT/JULY 14

□ "Summer Sleaze!" All women are invited
to "do your worst" at this dance organized
by the Lesbian Mothers Defence Fund, 9 pm
to 1 am at the 519 Church St Community
Centre. "Irresistable buffet... Come-as-you-
are costumes... Torchy music... Provocative
decor. ..." Tickets $6 ($5 advance, on sale
July 1st at Toronto Women's Bookstore and
Glad Day Books); sliding scale and assistance
with babysitting expenses. Info: 465-6822.

SUN/JULY 15

□ Rochester (NY) Gay Community Picnic.

See ad p 18.

WED/JULY 18

□ Boots Sea Cruise Night. Fun and frolics at
592 Sherbourne St, with surprise entertain-
ment. Beer 99C all night for anyone wearing
anything brief.

THURS/JULY19

□ Gay Fathers of Toronto. Discussion night.
Info: 364-4164.

SUN/JULY 22

□ Chutzpah. Monthly brunch, meeting at 1
pm at Ryan's Restaurant, 49 St Clair St W.
Info: 489-4662.

MON/JULY 23

□ Privates on Parade. The play. See Theatre.

WED/JULY 25

□ Gay Community Council Meeting. See

June 27.

□Misfit. See Theatre.

FRI/AUG 3

□ Maple Leaf Classic Bowling Tournament.

Be prepared for hundreds of gay women and
men to flood into town from the States,
Europe and across Canada, for this four-day
event hosted by the Toronto Historical Bowl-
ing Society (who, by the way, recently picked
up top prize at Vancouver's English Cup
tournament). Special events are to include
bingo on Friday night; a leather show and
disco on Saturday night; an evening at the
Surfboard Tavern, also Saturday night; an
awards banquet and dance on Sunday night;
brunch at the CN Tower on Monday; and a
send-off party and dance Monday night. For
details, call 423-5955. Many billeting spaces
are needed — if you can help, call 463-6824.

SAT/AUG 4

□Toronto Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf.

Monthly meeting. 519 Church St Commu-
nity Centre, 1-4 pm.

ONE IN TWO HUNDRED

Jeffrey Andrews, chosen for Death in Venice 's
Tadzio from 200 auditioners. See Theatre.

26 □ THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY /AUGUST 1984

MON/AUG 6

□ Gay Fathers of Toronto. Theme discus-
sion. 519 Church St Community Centre, 8
pm. Info: 364-4164.

WED/AUG 8

□ Eurythmics. Annie Lennox ana Dave Stew-
art show what sweet dreams are made of, at
the Kingswood Music Theatre just north of
Toronto. Info: Ticketron or 463-6477.

□ Chutzpah Planning Meeting. The gay
Jewish group, meeting at Arnold's place at 8
pm. Info: 489-4662.

SAT/AUG11

□ Gay Boat Cruise. The Gay Community
Dance Committee's first marine event! A

survey at April's dance showed that 60% of
both women and men would be willing to
pay $16 for a few hours of fun on the water,
and GCDC has obliged. Boarding begins at 8
pm at Pier 28, at the foot of Jarvis St. Sail-
ing time is 9 sharp, and DJ Ted Bates pro-
vides the music. The boat docks at 1 am, but
dancing continues till 2. Advance tickets
only, limited to 300, available at Glad Day
Books or the June 23 dance. Info: 961-4161 .

SUN/AUG 12

pm

□ Gay Fathers and Children's Picnic. 1
on the Toronto Islands. Fun, food and
games. Info: 364-4164.

□ Dignity Service. With liturgy organized by
women in Dignity. See Sundays.

FRI/AUG 17

□ Gay Fathers Potluck Supper. 364-4164.

SUN/AUG 19

□ Chutzpah Third Annual Picnic and
Barbecue. The gay Jewish group meets at
Old Mill Subway, 3 pm sharp, for an excur-
sion to Humber River. Bring your own meat.
Info: 489-4662.

THURS/AUG30

□ Gay Fathers Meeting. General discussion.
Info: 364-4164.

' ' The polish and wit of a Hitchcock film
mixed with eroticism and humour. . . stylish
and effective" writes Vito Russo (author of
The Celluloid Closet) about The Fourth Man,
opening June 29 at the Showcase Cinema on
Yonge Street. The Dutch film, directed by
Paul Verhoeven (Spotters) won the Interna-
tional Critics Prize at last fall's Festival of
Festivals in Toronto.

A poor but acclaimed writer on a lecture
tour spends the night with a lovely and
mysterious fan. He discovers that she is the
widow of three husbands, all of whom have
died in very curious circumstances. He de-
cides to stay a while longer when he finds
out that his hostess 's current boyfriend is the
same gorgeous fellow he cruised in the train
station on the way up, and connives to
seduce the young man. He cannot, however,
shed hallucinatory premonitions of death, and
an increasing paranoia that his hostess is
plotting to add one of them to her list of late
amours — will one of them be the fourth, and
if so— who?

The characters are refreshingly human,
and the author, especially, may be one of the
first utterly believable gay characters in
cinema — selfish, lazy and manipulative, but
ultimately quite likeable - and humour and
sex are indeed skillfully woven into the plot

John Allec

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MONDAYS

□ The Women's Group. Support group for
lesbians, 8 pm. 519 Church St Community
Centre. Info: Raechel, 936-0527.

□ Defensercise. Two hours of exercise, self-
defence and fun, hosted by Toronto Gay
Patrol. Free. Wear running shoes, loose
clothing and don't eat 45 minutes before ses-
sion. 519 Church St, 7:30 pm.

□ Overeaters Anonymous. For gay men and
lesbians. 519 Church St Community Centre,
7:30 pm.

TUESDAYS

□ Gay Youth of Toronto. 7:30 pm. Info:
533-2867 (Mon, Wed, Fri from 7-10 pm).

□ Integrity (Gay Anglicans). Church of the
Holy Trinity (Eaton Centre). 7:30 pm.
593-6217.

□ Women's Studies Student Union Open
House. Noon to 2 pm (bring your own
lunch). Room 5 1 B, New College (NE corner
in the basement), U of T.

WEDNESDAYS

□ Metropolitan Community Church. Mid-
week services. 730 Bathurst St. Wheelchair-
accessible. 7:30 pm.

□ Toronto Addicted Women's Self-Help Net-
work. Self-help group for women addicted to
alcohol and other drugs. Central Neighbour-
hood House. 349 Ontario St, 7 pm. Info:
961-7319.

THURSDAYS

□ TAG Coming Out Group. Meets in private
home. Supportive atmosphere for people
coming to terms with their sexuality. 8 pm.
Info: 964-6600.

WEEKENDS

SUNDAYS

□ Dignity/Toronto. Gay Catholics and
friends. Mass or worship followed by discus-
sion. Lynch Hall, Our Lady of Lourdes
Church (Sherbourne St, south of Bloor), 5
pm. Wheelchair-accessible. 960-3997.

□ Metropolitan Community Church. Wor-
ship at 1 1 am and 7:30 pm; singspiration 15
minutes before each service. Sunday school
provided for II am service. Wheelchair-
accessible; services on first Sun of each
month signed for the deaf. 730 Bathurst St.

□ Christos Metropolitan Community
Church. Worship service at 7 pm, St Luke's
United Church (Sherbourne & Carlton, in
chapel off Carlton) with fellowship hour.
489-4293 (days) or 248-1733 (evenings).

□ Alcoholics Anonymous. Gay and lesbian
group, open to all. 3 pm. 730 Bathurst St
(MCC).

PHONELINES

□ Alcoholics Anonymous 964-3962

Lesbian and gay groups.

□ Gaycare Toronto 243-5494

Seven days a week, 7-1 1 pm.

□ Lesbian Phoneline 960-3249

Tues 7:30-10:30 pm.

□Gay Community Calendar 923-GAYS

□GayCourtwatch 362-6928

□ Gay Fathers of Toronto 364-4164

Mon-Fri, 7-10 pm.

□ Gay Youth of Toronto 533-2867

Mon, Wed, Fri, 7-10 pm.

North American
Transvestite-Transsexual
ContactService(Seattle) (206)624-8266

[ 1 Spouses of Gays 967-0597

Wed and Thurs 6:30-8:30 pm.

Toronto Area Gays (TAG) 964-6600

Mon-Fri 7-10 pm.
Counselling, info.

Bisexuals International. (215)425-3894
(Philadelphia).

CIRPA 960-6318

Citizens' Independent Review of Police

Vtmties 24-hour confidential hotline.
Trouble with the police'' Call u> first:

THE BODY POLITIC H JULY / AUGUST 1984 27

Out and Out

(416)927-0970

tl'

Cafe

$

A little bit of magic
can lead you to great food.

Open for lunch and dinner

Sun - Wed 11 am - 1 am
Thu-Sat 11 am -4 am
Licensed

118 Avenue Road

Toronto

921-6095

because at
we're offering

one

Omelette brunch

on Sundays from 12 — 3 p.m.

with purchase of one Bloody Caesar or Bloody Mary

at the regular price.

hu*My*

370 church street, toronto

SPENDING A NIGHT

(SORT OF) WITH SHEILA GOSTICK

Wednesday, May 28
Dear Diary:

Heaven! Paradise! ! I spent the night
with Sheila Gostick! ! ! Well, to be truth-
ful, part of the night. Well, the evening.
But guess what? Sheila Gostick wears a
white T-shirt, grey socks with pink
stripes, red pyjamas and patent-leather
army boots to bed ! ! And she has a nice
big double bed, too. Well, it wasn't real-
ly her bed — it was sort of just on the
stage at Theatre Passe Muraille. Any-
way, she was in it — boots and all —
when I got there. And she talks inces-
santly, in bed or out of it. She told me
she used to more keen on the whole idea
of bed until she realized that "sleeping
together" meant "staying awake." And
she likes to sleep — I think because she
dreams so much. She used to dream in
3-D! ! But she doesn't anymore because
she doesn't like to wear the little glasses
to bed.

Oh, Diary, she is so terrific! She told
me all about Wayne Gretzky, her ideal
man — wealthy & never home. But she
knows she shouldn't take money from
men. She'll take money from women,
though — if she can find one who makes
a million bucks playing ice hockey.

Diary, she is so beautiful! You might
not guess it from this picture I've pasted
in here, but she has a Mohawkl Oh, not
on her head — up her legs! ! When she
takes her pyjamas off it looks like she's
wearing tuxedo pants! ! !

I just can't stand it, Diary — she can
sing, and dance, and I never laughed so
much in all my life! Like, you know
what she said about the CN Tower?
"That," she said, "is the best example
of what a really insecure architect can
do."

Well, Diary, I must run — I'm going
downtown to see if I can buy me a pair
of ice skates. Edna Barker D

AN OPERA FANATIC'S DELIGHT

"Stupenda!" doesn't begin to convey
the sensation created by Joan
Sutherland's performances as the tragic
heroine of Donizetti's Anna Bolena,
staged recently for the first time by the
Canadian Opera Company. Opening
night audiences gasped as the curtain
slowly rose to reveal a sumptuous state-
room (supposedly in Windsor Castle)
with the great Dame herself seated well
downstage, her commanding figure
draped in crimson velvet.

In many ways Anna Bolena (particu-
larly this production, designed in the
grand manner by John Pascoe and
Michael Stennett) seems quintessentially
an opera fanatic's delight: prima donnas

Anna Bolena by Gaetano Donizetti. Canadian
Opera Company, May 22-June 3. Conducted
by Richard Bonynge. Directed by Lotfi
Mansouri.

garbed in luxurious gowns and elegant
headgear pouring out endless streams of
melody with fiendish embellishments;
dramatic confrontations and duets
crowned with thrilling high notes; pomp
and pageantry set against lavish back-
drops and fairytale settings. And above
all, an obligatory mad-scene for the
doomed heroine wronged by fate and
lecherous intrigue.

Conceived in 1830 as a vehicle for the
great Giuditta Pasta (a singing actress
whose inspiration made audiences over-
look her vocal inadequacies). Anna has
been revived on rare occasions as a
showcase for dramatic coloraturas, stars
of the bel canto style who can cope with
the merciless demands of the music and
still create memorable dramatic effects.
A famous modern revival took place in
1957 at La Scala, with Luchino Visconti
directing the prodigious talent of Maria
Callas, whose overwhelming success in

28 □ THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY /AUGUST 1984

BUM BUI

the title role drew cries of "Divina!"
from impassioned Milanese audiences.
More recently Elena Suliotis and Beverly
Sills have attempted this gruelling role,
with only moderate success.

At 58, Sutherland continues to
astonish even her detractors with her
vocal longevity and celebrated agility.
She is not (and has never aspired to be)
the kind of consummate singing actress
that Callas was, but over the years she
has learned to declaim in the grand man-
ner, moving regally about the stage with
enough energy and conviction to create
powerful effects. In Bolena she domin-
ated all the ensembles, her awesomely
large voice soaring above the orchestra
with one climactic high note after
another, particularly during the magnifi-
cent finale of the second act, when Anna
boldly challenges King Henry's power
and angrily defends herself against
trumped-up adultery charges.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the
evening was the triumph of Judith Forst
— a Canadian mezzo once wasted in
thankless roles like Maddelena in Rigo-
letto — singing the complex role of Jane
Seymour, Anna's lady-in-waiting and
Henry VlII's current mistress. Forst
combined dramatic force with agile
coloratura singing to suggest convincing-
ly Seymour's ambiguous motivations
and sympathies. Like Bellini's Norma, a
bel canto masterpiece written shortly
afterwards in 1831 , Anna Bolena pro-
vides a fascinating study of sexual dilem-
ma, with women joined together against
the male fools and bullies who've used
and betrayed them. The great confronta-
tion scene between Anna and Seymour
was perhaps the musical highpoint of the
evening, the two women's voices uniting
in an extended duet which rose in thirds
to a splendid climax, bringing the house
down. In other scenes they were admir-
ably supported by James Morris as the
villainous Henry, and Janet Stubbs,
strikingly handsome in the trouser role
of Smeaton, the page-boy who adores
Anna but betrays her under torture.

In the celebrated mad scene which
concludes the opera Sutherland sounded
fresher than ever, using haunting col-
ours and unaccustomed chest notes, as
well as dazzling coloratura, to convey
the pathos of Anna's demise. Dame
Joan's concept of madness is general-
ized: a kind of nineteenth century
melancholia touched by moments of
delirium and nostalgia. In her rendition
of Anna's eloquent prayer, "Cielo, a
miei lunghi spasami," an outrageous
pirating by Donizetti of "Home, Sweet
Home," from Bishop's Clan (1823),
Sutherland displayed exquisite tone and
disarming sincerity. Her final cabaletta,
denouncing Henry and his newly
crowned consort in a series of rising trills
and dazzling embellishments, brought
the audience to its feet.

There hasn't been such an exciting
musical event here in a long time. Gen-
eral Director Lotfi Mansouri (who also
directed this production) has earned the
gratitude of opera aficionados both for
wooing Sutherland back to the COC for
her first attempt at this demanding role,
and for the imagination and enterprise
he has once again displayed in bringing
in a production of international calibre.
From here the production (underwritten
by the Gamma Fisher Foundation) will
travel to opera centres in the US:
Detroit, San Francisco, Houston and
Chicago. What Toronto needs now is a
properly equipped opera house which
can sustain the lofty standards set by this
great production, and also meet the de-
mands of Mansouri's vision for the
musical future of this city.

P G Baker!

y ,-/v..iw..iu' i — i» ctbes^.e J**-^-^ ««...,» \^-iw 0

Yonge Street

Bloor south to College

TBP'S SUMMER '84 KEY TO

o

CHARLES

HAYDEN

CHARLES

TORONTO 1

Check the Out In the City listings beginning on page 24
for full descriptions and addresses of places listed below.

Les Cavaliers . . .

.35

Church St Cafe . .

.38

Crispins

.32

18East

.26

Fare Exchange . .

. .4

Fenton's

. .6

Golden Griddle . .

.34

.27

Lipstick

.41

Plmblett's

.29

Queen Mother Cafe 22

Raclette

.20

TheRlvoll

.18

.19

Sgana Landing . .

. 15

. .12
. . .1
. .14
. .31
. .37
. .26

BARS

The Albany 24

TheBarn 35

Boots/Bud's .... 42

Buddy's 32

CameoClub 25

■ LesCavaliers .... 35

Chaps 3

Cornelius 10

Crow Bar 11

TheHHch'n'Post . 13

Katrina's ....
TheParkside .
The Quest . . .
St Charles . . .
The Surf board
Together ....
The Tool Box .

DISCOS

Chaps

Club Manatee.

Oz

PanAM/Rlvoli

Stages

Twilight Zone .
Voodoo Club .

BATHS

The Barracks .
The Club ....
The Roman's .

ACCOMMODATION

Catnaps 30

18 East Hotel ... .26
Selby Hotel 42

SERVICES

Glad Day Books

Toronto Women's

Bookstore 46

(1 block west of
Spadlna)

Metropolitan Com-
munity Church . . .45
(West to Bathurst,
1 block south)

5 19 Centre 40

Hassle Free Clinic .39
Nellie's Hostel . . .28
(East on Gerrard,
south on Broadview
to Rlverdale Village)

Jennie's 47

(West to Bathurst,
half-block south)
Stop86 44

OUTDOORS

Hanlan's Point

Beach 16

(Take ferry from

docks (17), walk to

beach)

Rlverdale Park (site of

most CGSL and Not-

so- Amazon Softball

games) 28

(East on Gerrard,
north on Broadview

SOCIAL/POLITICAL ACTION

continued from page 25

Lesbian and Gay History Group ol Toronto. Box 639. Stn A.
M5W 1G2 961-7338

D Lesbian and Gay Pride Day Committee. Box 793. Stn 0.
M4T 2N7 Organizes end ot June celebration.
n Lesbian Incest Survivors Support Group. Info 964-7477 (Rape
Crisis Centre)

ZLesbian Mothers Defense Fund. Box 38. Stn E M6H 4E1.
465-6822

Lesbian Speakers Bureau. Box 6597. Stn A. M5W 1X4 Info:
Michelle at 789-4541 or Debbie at 964-7477 Speakers tor myth-
shattering seminars and workshops about lesbians

Lesbians Against the flight Box 6579. Stn A. M5W 1 X4
Lesbian-feminist political action group

Metamorphosis. Box 5963. Stn A. M5W 1P4 Transsexual coun-
selling and services

New Democratic Party Gay and Lesbian Caucus. Box 792. Sin F.
M4Y 2N7 964-1049

New Dimensions. Social group for women, meets approximately
every third week Into: Gayle. 683-8691
"The New Voice, c/o 519 Church St. M4Y 2C9 Lesbian/gay
choir

Osgoode Gay/Lesbian Caucus. Vork University. 4700 Keele St.
Downsview, M3J 2R5 532-2443 (Peter) or 463-4721 (Shelley)

Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays Toronto. 52 Roxaline
St Weston ON M9T 2Y9 Info Pauline Martin at 244-2105

Parents of Gays Mississauga. c/o Anne Rutledge. 3323 Kings
Mastings Cres. Mississauga L5L 1G5 820-5130

Right to Privacy Committee (RTPC). 730 Bathurst St. M5S 2R4
Defence committee for gays arrested under bawdyhouse laws
Cheques or charges pyable to Harriet Sachs in trust for RTPC Info
961-8046 or 362-2877 Also runs Courtwatch (362-6928)

Toronto Rainbow Alliance of the Deal. Box 671 . Sin F. M4Y 2N6

WHY' (We Help You). Non-profit para-protessional support group
tor transsexuals 26-325 Jarvis St. M5B2C2 967-3405

HEALTH &
SOCIAL SERVICES

□ AIDS Committee ot Toronto. Box 55. Stn F. M4Y 2L4 926-1626
(Mon-Fn. 9 am-5 pm) Educates public about the syndrome,
especially AIDS-aftected communities, and provides support services
to people with AIDS

Alcoholics Anonymous Lesbian/gay fellowships 964-3962.
□Gaycare Toronto, c/o Christos MCC. Box 1 193. Stn F. M4Y 2T8.
243-5494, 7-11 pm seven days a week Free face-to-face drop-in
counselling service in the downtown area Group sessions
.Gay Counselling Centre ot Toronto. 105 Carlton St. 4th floor.
M5B 1M2 977-2153 Tues. Wed, Thurs, 6 30-9 30 pm Professional
counselling for lesbians and gay men. Call for appt or drop in.
□Gay Fathers of Toronto. Phoneline 364-4164, 7-10 pm, Mon-Fri.
□Gay Men's Discussion Groups. Sponsored by U of T Sex Ed Centre
978-3977

□Hassle-Free Clinic - Men. 556 Church St. 2nd floor. M4Y 2E3
922-0603. VD info, testing and treatment Hours: Mon. Wed, 4-9
pm, Tues. Thurs, 10 am-3 pm: Fn. 4-7 pm: Sat. 10 am-2 pm Bath
clinics every Wed evening at The Club and Roman's
□lesbian Phoneline. Box 70. Sin F. M4Y 2L4. 960-3249 Tues
7.30-10 30 pm Recorded message other times. Speakers available
□Sex Ed Centre, c/o U of T Office of Admissions, 315 Bloor St W,
Room 107, M5S 1A3 Devonshire and Bloor Sts. behind Admissions
Bldg 978-3977 Sex counselling tor U of T campus Gay counsellors
every Tues. lOam-9 pm

□Toronto Area Gays. Box 6706 Stn A. M5W 1X5 964-6600. Free
peer counselling and into for lesbians and gay men Mon-Fri: 7
pm-10pm

□Tri-Aid Charitable Foundation. 8 Irwin Ave. M4Y 1 K9 Gay youth,
streetwork. parkwatch, public education, agency consultations

□Association of Gay Social Workers, c/o 906-55 Isabella St.

M4Y 1M8 Social work students also welcome.

□Gays in Health Care. Box 7086, Stn A. M5W 1X7 920-1882

Gay men and lesbians working and training in health-care delivery
and research.

□Toronto Lambda Business Council. Box 513. Adelaide St Stn.
M5C 2J6. Non-profit guild with over 70 members, publishes direc-
tory twice a year

□Cabbagetown Group Softball League. Box 1113. Stn F,

M4Y2T8.

□Judy Garland Memorial Bowling League. Info bulletin boards in

bars, or write c/o TSA (below) Sept-May season (Mon and Thurs

evenings), also summer league

□Not-so Amazon Softball League. All-lesbian recreation league

forming this spring. Info: 967-7440 or 466-9341 .

□Out and Out Club. Box 331 . Stn F. M4Y 2L7. 927-0970 Outdoor

activities for gay people Include phone number.

□Pool Bar League. Info al most bars, or write c/o TSA

□Riverdale Curling League. Write c/o TSA

□Riverdale Volleyball League. Sept-April season Info at Crow Bar,

Buddy's and Albany Tavern, or write c/o TSA.

□Rotators Curling League. Write c/o TSA.

□Silukis. All-lesbian Softball team. Box 6597, Stn A, M5W 1X4.

964-7477.

□Toronto Historical Bowling Society. Sept-May seasonjues, Wed.

Fri and Sat evenings, and Sun afternoon Also summer league

Info: 423-5955, or write 100-2 Bloor St W, M4W 3E2.

□Toronto Sports Alliance (TSA). Box 1113, Stn F, M4Y2T8

□Womyn Out Doors (WOODS). Women-identified women sharing

outdoor skills and experiences Outings, workshops and trips Box

462, Stn P. M5S 2S9.

RELIGIOUS

□Christos Metropolitan Community Church, Box 1193, Stn F
M4Y 2T8. 968-7423. Christian church with special outreach to gay
community, working in association with Gaycare Toronto.
□Chutzpah. See Social/political action listings.

o

nJ^l

579 Yonge, Toronto (416) 967-4666

□Dignity/Toronto. Box 249, Stn E. M6H 4E2 960-3997 Group for
gay and lesbian Catholics and friends
□Integrity/Toronto. Box 873, Stn F. M4Y 2N9. Pastoral ministry
for gay and lesbian Anglicans and friends 593-6217 Chaplains
available for pastoral counselling through Ihis number.
□Lutherans Concerned, c/o Edward Schlauch, 980 Broadview
Ave. Apt 2309, M4K 3Y1 463-7354 (David or James) Support
and fellowship tor gay and lesbian Lutherans and their friends
□Metropolitan Community Church. 730 Bathurst St. M5S 2R4.
536-2848. Christian church with special ministry to gay
community.

□The Sacred Triangle. 72 Ivy Ave, M4L 2H7 463-9688. Lesbian
and gay occultists and spiritualists
□Seventh-Day Adventists Kinship International. For past and
present gay and lesbian Adventists. c/o Jeremy Young. Box 408.
StnC. M6J 3P5.

□Spirit. 730 Bathurst St, M5S 2R4. 248-1733 or 482-1817 Sup-
port group for gay and lesbian Salvationists and friends.
□Toronto Organization of United Church Homosexuals. Box 626,
StnQ, M4T 1L0.

NUN OF THE ABOVE

□The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Drawer OPI, c/oBox 7289,
Stn A. M5W 1X9

PUBLICATIONS
& INFORMATION

□Bisexuals International (Philadelphia). (215) 425-3894
□The Body Politic. Box 7289. Stn A. M5W 1X9 364-6320
National lesbian and gay monthly.

□Canadian Gay Archives. Box 639. Stn A, M5W 1G2. 364-2759.
□Gay Community Calendar. Call 923-GAYS (923-4297). Box 8,
Adelaide St Stn, M5C 2H8. 24 hour recorded message of weekly
events. To get info listed call 656-0372 between 7-10 pm Mondays.
□Gayllne West. 453-GGCO. Community into for Mississauga and
parts west of Metro.

□Glad Day Bookshop. 648A Yonge St. 2nd floor. M5Y 2A6.
961-4161 . Mon 10-8; Tue-Wed 10-6; Thurs-Fri 10-9; Sat 10-6.
□Grapevine, Box 38, Stn E, M6H 4E1 Lesbian Mothers' Defense
Fund newsletter. 2-3 issues/year.
□Lesbian Archives. Box 928. Stn Q. M4T 2P1 .
□Lesblan/Lesbienne. National newsletter, 367-0589 (Kerry).
□Metamorphosis. Box 5963. StnA. M5W 1P4. Newsletter tor
transsexuals.

□North American Transvestite-Transsexual Contact Service
(Seattle). "250 Canadian members." (206) 624-8266 (24 hrs)
□Rites. Magazine for lesbian and gay liberation. Box 65. Stn F,
M4Y 2L4.

□Sound Women, c/o Ryerson Women's Centre, SURPI, 380 Vic-
toria St, M5B 1W7. Ryerson women's radio show collective. Les-
bian and feminist music, interviews and announcements. Sundays
al noon. CKLN-FM88.1. To place announcements, call 598-9838
□Toronto Women's Bookstore. 73 Harbord St, M5S 1G4.
922-8744

I 'The Web. 821-1416 Free monthly newsletter of women's
events. Available at SCM Bookstore. 519 Church St Community
Centre. Cameo, Together, Toronto Rape Crisis Centre, or MCC.

WOMEN'S

The following is a select list ol women 's services in Toronto of par-
ticular interest to lesbians.

□Broadside. Box 494, Stn P, M5S 2T1. 598-3513 Monthly fem-
inist newspaper Substantial contributions by lesbians.
□Constance Hamilton Housing Co-op. For women only 523 Melita
Cres, M6G 3X9. 532-8860.

□Fireweed. Box 279. Stn B, M5T 2W2 977-8681 Feminist quar-
terly of politics and the arts

□Hassle-Free Clinic — Women. 556 Church St, second floor,
M4Y 2E3. 922-0566, Free medical clinic. Birth control and gyne-
cological info. VD and pregnancy testing, abortion counselling and
referrals. Hours; Mon. Wed. Fri. 10 am-3 pm, Tues. Thur. 4 pm-
9 pm. Call ahead.

International Women's Day Committee Box 70, Stn F. M4Y 2L4
789-4541 Independent socialist feminist organization
□Jessie's Centre for Teenage Women. 154 Bathurst St. M5V 2R3
365-1888 Multi-service agency. Lesbian-positive
□Macphail House. 389 Church St. M5B 2A1 977-1037 Long-
term YWCA residence for women 16-25. Shared co-op apartments
□Nellie's Hostel for Women. 275A Broadview Ave. M4M 2G8.
461-1084 Temporary hostel for women 16 and over, including
mothers with children

□Sistering. Drop-in centre for transient women Counselling and
referrals for housing, doctors, social agencies, etc. Free coffee and
lunch in a non-threatening, supportive atmosphere. Mon-Fri, 8
am-4 pm. Scadding Court Community Centre. 707 Dundas W (at
Bathurst). 366-0001

I IStop 86. 86 Madison Ave, M5R 2S4 922-3271 , Crisis housing
and social service centre for women under 25.
□Times Change Women's Employment Centre. 22 Davisville Ave,
M4S 1 E8. 487-2807 9-5 Mon-Thurs, 9-2 Fri. Employment coun-
selling, job search and career planning workshops
I IToronto Addicted Women's Sell-Help Network. Suite 202, Box
2213, Stn P.M5S2T2 Phoneline: 961-7319 Self-help group for
women addicted lo alcohol and other drugs Weekly meetings.
□Toronto Area Caucus of Women and the Law. Box 231, Sin B,
M5T 2T2.

□Toronto Differently Abled Women's Accessibility Committee
929-9327 (weekday mornings).

□Toronto Rape Crisis Centre. Box 6597. Stn A. M5W 1X4 Crisis
line 964-8080 Business line 964-7477 Info, self-defence
courses

i Toronto Women's Housing Co-op. Coming soon Info 921-4755.
' U ol T Women's Newsmagazine. For feminists on and off cam-
pus. 44 St George St. 2nd fir, M5S 2E4 Info Brenda 534-4021
I Women in Trades, c/o Times Change, 22 Davisville St,
M4S 1E8 534-1 161.

Women's Counselling, Relerral and Education Centre. 348 Col-
lege St. M5T 1S4 924-0766 Therapy, counselling, info

Women's Independent Thoughtz (WITZ). Group for exchange ot
ideas and creative endeavours 768-9496 or 536-3162.

Women's Media Alliance, c/o 940 Queen St E, M4M U7 Phyllis
Waugh, 466-8840

Women's Resource Centre. OISE. 252 Bloor St W. M5S 1V6
923-6641 , Ext 244 Books, periodicals, audio & video tapes

Womenspons. Women's sports store. 561 Mt Pleasant Rd (sol
Eglinton) 481-2531

Womynly Way Productions 427 Bloor St W. M5S 1X7
925-6568. Company bringing concerts, dance and theatrical per-
formances to the city

30 3 THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY/AUGUST 1984

Batman and Robin
lived together. Wonder
Woman was an Amazon's
Amazon. But comic-book
superheroes never, never
had sex — especially gay sex.
At least not until now, that is.

COMING OUT IN THE

A gay tour through four-colour f antasyland, by Brad Fraser

o

7 hey have been with us now for
more than fifty years. They
have played some part, no
matter how minor, in the
childhood of most every per-
son raised in North America. They have
been maligned as tools of the devil, and
praised as effective educational aids. They
have been called disposable junk and se-
lected as the quintessential example of
twentieth-century Pop Art. They've been
burned, banned and stored in climate-con-
trolled vaults to prevent their deteriora-
tion . They've been used as toilet paper and
displayed in some of the most prestigious
museums across the continent.
They are comic books.
They are as integrated into our culture as
television and public transit. And, like
many of the popular media over the past
decade, comic books seem to have recently
discovered the term homosexual. After
making inroads into the theatre, movies
and television, gay life has finally attacked
that last bastion of heterosexual myth-
making, the comic book!

Comic books as we know them began in
June 1938 with the first issue of Action
comics and the introduction of Superman.
There had been earlier attempts, but Ac-
tion comics Number One was the first pub-
lication to exploit the new format , and it set
the precedent for all comic books. With
Superman and the other characters who
followed in his successful footsteps, the art
of graphic storytelling was born and, at a
nickel or ten cents a shot, it wasn't long be-
fore comic books became one of the most
lucrative ventures in the magazine publish-
ing business. Other publishers followed
suit and in a few short years, the market
exploded.

The years from 1938 to 1950 are known
as the Golden Age of comics. Superman
became the pattern for almost all super-
hero comics ever published. Over the years
his popularity has waxed and waned, but
he has always held on, while such worthies
as The Green Lantern, The Flash, Plastic
Man, The Human Torch, Captain Marvel

(and his entire family: Captain Marvel
Junior, Mary Marvel and Marvel Bunny),
Captain America and Bulletman rose to
the heights of best-sellerdom, only to fall
from favour. Likewise, we have lost, per-
haps with few regrets, such dubious pro-
tectors of mankind and the American way
as The Green Lama, Spy Smasher, The
Sandman, The Whizzer (who got his super
powers through a transfusion of mon-
goose blood), the Red Bee and Phantom
Lady.

But, whether they were inspired or ludi-
crous, all of these superheroes had their
day. They fought crime, saved the world
and protected their fellow man. One thing
they never did, though, was have sex.
None. Not ever. Sex in comics was a com-
plete no-no.

There was one man, however, who
thought the early comics were cover-to-
cover sleaze.

In 1954, Dr Frederic Wertham's book
The Seduction of the Innocent was releas-
ed. All hell broke loose.

Wertham's strident and rather hysterical
book expounded endlessly on how comics
endangered America's youth, and claimed
that comics could be tied directly to the
problem of juvenile delinquency. Sudden-
ly, it became clear to an entire generation
of middle-aged, middle-class parents just
why their children were so radically differ-
ent from them. It wasn't the atomic threat,
it wasn't the Russians, it wasn't the movies,
television or the educational system. It was
comic books. Senate hearings were called.
Wertham described in graphic detail how
comics wallowed in crime, gore and gener-
al bad taste — as we all know, America was
obsessed with bad taste in the Fifties.
Then, once he was sure he had the country
watching, he pulled his ultimate trump
card, guaranteed to give him everyone's
undivided attention. Sex.

Yes. Sex. Wertham claimed to have
found evidence of bondage, sadism, maso-
chism and (gasp!) homosexuality in chil-
dren's comic books.

Today, The Seduction of the Innocent
and the furor it created seem laughable.
But the shock and outrage it provoked then
were very real . Particularly when Wertham
raised his accusing finger, pointed it at Bat-
man and Robin — those paragons of cama-
raderie and fair play — and accused them
of being homosexuals!

Wertham charged that because Batman
and Robin shared the same quarters (state-
ly Wayne Manor, mind you, not a one-bed-
room fiat in Soho), were shown occasion-
ally lounging about in housecoats and
seemed to enjoy one another's company
more than women's, they had to be a gay
couple.

Wertham strengthened his case by find-
ing an actual homosexual to testify that he
would have been quite happy to trade
places with cither of the Dynamic Duo. To

THE BODY POLITIC U JULY /AUGUST 1984 □ 31

Behind closed
doors at stately
Wayne Manor

Right, in an episode from 1943,
Batman and Robin disrobe and head
to bed as Bruce Wayne and
Dick Grayson

Below, 1955: the "insufferably
wholesome" Aunt Agatha, a
chaperone Inspired by the Comics
Code, catches the boys sneaking
out. (In the next panel, she makes
them come back and put on their
rubbers....)

LATE*, AS THE APVENTUBER9
TO GO to 8BP...

PREPARE

FIMA&Nf
A PlMWlT LIKE HIM FIND-
ING uS WM6N 9CME OF TuE
9MAKTH9T MEW IN THE «0«lP

have raise? ANP Fv&ILED.1
Oh, Oh-- SOMEONE'S
S. AT THE OOO*-

ANS'AEJt

most people at the hearings, this was
proof-positive of the doctor's libelous
charges. I wouldn't dream of questioning
the mental state of the poor fellow coerced
into making such a statement publicly, but
I would like to go on record as saying, were
it remotely feasible, I too would be quite
willing to switch places with either Batman
or Robin. The jawline alone would be
worth the switch — to say nothing of own-
ing stately Wayne Manor, being able to
swing about the rooftops of Gotham City
on a silken rope, and being the idol of
millions.

Not content with slandering Bats and the
Boy Wonder, Wertham turned his homo-
phobic theories on none other than every-
body's favourite eagle-breasted Amazon,
Wonder Woman. Not only was Wonder
Woman a lesbian because she hailed from a
magical isle on which no man could set
foot, she was also a sadist because she and
her equally Amazonian sisters slugged vil-
lains who were men. They also slugged vil-
lains who were women. One can only guess
what that made them. This time Wertham
didn't bother to call a lesbian to testify that
she would gladly trade places with Wonder
Woman. He didn't have to. Wertham had
done his job.

All that talk of sex and juvenile delin-
quency had reached eager ears. Comics
suffered a crippling blow when, in late
1954, the few companies actually left in
business banded together to protect their
livelihood by proclaiming what was to be
known as "The Comics Code."

The Comics Code put a quick end to the
so-called "Golden Age" of comics, and
rushed in a period of such homogenization
and silliness that it's remarkable they man-
aged to survive at all. The Code's stringent
rules required that no sympathy could be
created for a criminal, that policemen
should always be shown in a manner that
would create respect for authority, that no
scenes of lust, sadism or masochism could
be shown, that vulgarity and symbols with
undesirable meanings should be avoided.
Nudity, indecent or undue exposure or illi-
cit sex could not be hinted at, stories were
never to stimulate the lower or baser emo-
tions and, finally, sexual perversion was
strictly forbidden. Gone in an instant were
all the innocent kinkiness and quasi-real-
ism that had made the comics so much fun.
Superheroes flew off into space where the
parameters of crime were not so clearly de-
fined — how can you arrest someone for
wanting to conquer the earth? But no-
where was the impact of the Code more
blatantly felt that in the life of the former
creature of the night, Batman.

No longer were Batman and Robin the
carefree, misogynist bachelors they had
once been. They were immediately saddled
with enough female company to reassure
even the most homophobic reader. The Bat-
woman, a former circus performer with a
crush on Batman, was introduced. And,
just to balance things out nicely, her niece
adopted the guise of the green-and-red-
clad Batgirl. Together they drove the dy-
namic duo to distraction by butting in on
their most important cases and demanding
kisses for their uninvited aid . Even the but-
ler Alfred was written out of the strip for a
time, and replaced by Bruce Wayne's in-
sufferably wholesome Aunt Agatha. Al-
though it was never shown, it certainly isn't
difficult to imagine this wizened busybody
standing guard outside the bedroom doors
to quell any unnatural hanky-panky that
the caped crusaders might be tempted to in-
dulge in after a hard night of beating on the
Joker. Finally, to complete this picture of
domestic bliss, Ace the Bathound found
his way into the strip — and the once fear-
some Batman found himself in Father
Knows Best.

Comics may have continued in this vein
indefinitely if it hadn't been for an innova-
tive young publisher by the name of Stan
Lee. Already a veteran writer of comic

32 □ THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY /AUGUST 1984

stories in 1961, Lee took over as publisher
for the second-rate Timely line, changed
the company's name to Marvel Comics,
created the Fantastic Four and Spiderman
— and set in motion the wheels of a revolu-
tion that would set the Code-haunted in-
dustry on its ear.

^^F ee's Fantastic Four were the
JM closest thing to thinking, feel-
f ~ ing human beings ever seen in
^|^^^^ four-colour pages. TTiis hu-
^^^^^^ manizationofthe hero became
the trademark of the Marvel line. Heroes
like Thor, Daredevil, the newly revamped
Captain America, the X-Men and Doctor
Strange fought, laughed, loved, felt hap-
py, sad and lonely just like real people.
And for the first time in their history, comic
books were suddenly being taken seriously
as something more than adventure fanta-
sies aimed at children. College students
were buying the books, the artwork was be-
ing displayed in museums and Stan Lee was
doing university lecture tours. Comic-
book readers were becoming more de-
manding and outspoken, and the heroes
were growing up. Sue Richards (AKA The
Invisible Girl, wife of the Fantastic Four's
leader, the appropriately named Mr Fan-
tastic) became pregnant . In one precedent-
setting story, Spiderman encountered a kid
s. strung out on hard drugs. One of the most
| strictly enforced rules of the Code was a
a ban on mentioning drugs in any way. Mar-
| vel released the book without the approval
% of the Comics Code — the first time a maj-
| or company had attempted such a move in
5 more than fifteen years. Amazingly
•a enough, the distributors picked up the
1 book and sold it. The Code had begun to
z lose its power.

£ Sex, too, began to appear in comics
- again in the late Sixties — most obviously
§ with the female characters. Breasts and
© hips were expanding by the month. The
•= squeaky-clean, fey stereotype was being
| replaced by the buxom, sultry stereotype.
8 Nick Fury, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (a James
J Bond clone), was shown eating breakfast
| with his main squeeze, Val. The implica-
i tion was obvious. She had been there all
| night.

| Despite all this new-found freedom,
t there was one subject the comic publishers,
writers and artists still wouldn't touch.
You've got it. Homosexuality! It may have
been fine to intimate that Nick Fury was
chucking it to Val, even to imply that Su-
perman's relationship with the now-liber-
ated Lois Lane was something more than
platonic, but the love that dare not sp'eak
its name was still poison. The only vaguely
gay characters in the Sixties and early
Seventies are extremely dubious cases. The
first is the insidious Star Saxon. Saxon
spent a few issues of Daredevil tormenting
our blind hero and, quite honestly, if there
was anything remotely gay about him I
didn't see it. It wasn't until some years
later, in fact, that the question of Saxon's
sexuality came up. The character's crea-
tor, Barry Smith, claimed that he had con-
ceived and attempted to illustrate Saxon as
a homosexual, but admits it didn't work
very well. It may have been for the best. If
I there's one thing we don't need, it's anoth-
o er villain who is a homosexual by implica-
tion. The other maybe-he-is-maybe-he-
5 isn't character was a villain called Scorpio,
f Scorpio had been flitting about the Marvel
universe for years, but his identity and
disposition had never been explored until
§ he returned to the pages of The Defenders
§■ in the mid-Seventies. In these stories, Scor-
g pio passes time listening to old Judy
Garland records and lamenting how cruel-
| ly the world had treated poor Dorothy
8 when she was alive. Some might call this
slim evidence — but I defy them to find a
Judy record in the collections of any of
| their straight male friends.

During the Seventies, comic-book char-

acters continued to evolve, and over the
last few years we have seen, if not a prolif-
eration, at least a healthy smattering of gay
characters.

As usual, Marvel was the company to
open the door, though in most cases it's all
very subtle. Things have come a long way
since Daredevil Number 96, in which the
deranged villain, Bullseye, kidnaps a pair
of most unattractive young men in a dark-
ened movie theatre. The Maltese Falcon is
playing and we are subjected to panel after
panel of our two nebbish friends discuss-
ing, in awed tones, the performances of
Bogart and Askor. The conversation is not
overtly gay, but the underlying feeling is
most definitely academic New York fag-
got. Suddenly the deranged Evil Person
bursts into the theatre, knocks off half the
patrons and takes our two Serious Film
People hostage. He forces them to take
him to "their" apartment . They even say it
— "It... it's our apartment. That's all."
And judging from its tiny size, it's not dif-
ficult to conclude that the place does not
have a second bedroom. Frank Miller, the
artist /writer who created this story, did a
very successful run of The Daredevil series
in which he explored the seamier side of
New York City. In another issue, Miller
took his hero into a leather bar filled with
smoke, makeshift tables and sweaty, half-
dressed bodies. It seems the perfect arche-
type of the gay leather bar. Though there
are women present, and the story concerns
a heterosexual rapist in a brown leather
bondage mask, the atmosphere is very
much as in the film Cruising.

Another series in the Marvel line de-
serves mention, not because of gay charac-
ters, but because of its strong gay themes.
It's called The Uncanny X-Men and con-
cerns a group of superpowered young peo-
ple who are shunned and feared by man-
kind because they are mutants with powers
which usually manifest themselves (just
like sexuality) around puberty. Although
there is usually nothing frightening or
threatening about these powers, mutants
are hated by their non-mutant brothers.
The X-Men transcends the usual adventure
comic because it constantly deals with
alienation and loneliness, of being differ-
ent from everyone else even though you
look the same. Again, the implications
should be obvious. Writers of the series
have even gone so far as to deal with a story
everyone of us should be familiar with . The
Oh-my-god-how-am-I-going-to-tell-my-
parents-I'm-not-what-they-think-I-am
story. Mutants, like many young homo-
sexuals, have to go through the pain, inde-
cision and possible heartbreak of having to
come out of their genetically altered closet .
In a fan interview, Chris Claremont, the
writer of the series for the last ten years,
said that fan mail seems to indicate the
X-Men have a large gay following. It's not
surprising.

But the most successful and interesting
of Marvel's gay characters is found, sur-
prisingly enough, in the life of one of the
comic's oldest and most conservative su-
perheroes — none other than that eternal
Sentinel of Liberty, the red-white-and-
blue-clad Captain America. After disap-
pearing into comic-book limbo in the mid-
Fifties, Captain America was revived by
Marvel in theearly Sixties. The strip always
had a liberal tone, although Captain Am-
erica remained the America-love-it-or-
leave-it type he had always been. But
through the Sixties and Seventies all kinds
of maligned minorities were saved from in-
justice and prejudice by the good captain.
For a time he even took on a black partner.
So it wasn't surprising to Cap's fans when a
gay character was introduced. And, unlike
other gay characters in the comics. Cap's
friend Arnie is not a villain, a mutant or
comedy relief. He's just a middle-aged
man trying to do the best he can with what
the world has to offer. Wc first meet Arnic
and his much-loved roommate Michael

YOU SEE .GIRLS, THERE'S NOTH
ING TO IT- ALL YOU HAVE TO 00
IS HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOUR
OWN STRENGTH I

A magic isle
where no man
could set foot

Suffering Sappho! In these two
panels from 1945, Wonder Woman
demonstrates the benefits of
Amazon training to her sisters

Sentinel of Liberty — and friend

Marvel's 1984 Captain America comforts Arnie, who'd been captured
by villains and made to call himself "a menace to society... a disease"

...THEY CAN'T CORRUPT YOUR LOVE FOR MICHAEL
WITH THEIR LIES ANY MORE THAN THEY CAN
CORRUPT /V\V LOVE FOR 8ERN1E/

DO YOU HEAR ME.
ARNIE? THEY'RE
THE PARIAHS/
THEY'RE THE

DISEASE/ THEY--

THE BODY POLITIC : I JULY/AUGUST WK4 33

Superheroes and vampires

Right: mixed
reactions to bisexual
hero (and divine
dancer) "Paradox"
in Marvel's Bizarre
Adventures, February
1982

pur vc*i p,fjj'T r»~r au ■'«.- w,^
i our hekc to N<?wRt trroA

; l.FC . - -''. SG V.k.ivG -r.,vlt Jvwav
i FKC.V. W\ "Afj. \.v.'.£1 TO THf
PC i N T

"Daughters off the Dragon," from Bizarre Adventures, March 1981: Vampire
Angle gets what she's after — but also gets a stake in the heart

In "Greenberg the Vampire" (Bizarre Adventures, October 1981), the mys-
terious stranger zaps boy- with-dog Bob (he ends up a pile of leather regalia in
a heap of dust) and sends his collar to Bob's lover Leopold — also a vampire

. .A9 A 0OyAHP #tS
WAl*

C 'fi\OH J"OAN HOtV LONG

ARE YOU GONNA
be* rve GOT PLACED
to go- - People to -seE

when evil Baron Zemo strikes out at Cap-
tain America by attacking his friends. Ar-
nie and Michael are kidnapped, Cap at-
tempts to save them and Michael is killed.
Arnie, beside himself with grief, lashes out
at Captain America, whines and then
faints. Hardly heroic behaviour. But how
would you react if your lover were killed by
a mutated man-rat named Vermin?

That's not the end of it, however. In the
thick of battle Arnie redeems himself by re-
viving and helping Captain America defeat
the villains. The funeral follows, and Arnie
proves himself astrong and resourceful hu-
man being. Even though he and Michael
had been together since World War Two,
Arnie resolves not to let his grief consume
him, allowing the memory of what he and
his "roommate" shared to carry him for-
ward. For a time Arnie disappeared from
the strip, but has recently been shown
coping with life alone. In a recent issue,
Captain America, his ex-partner the Fal-
con and his new partner Nomad pay Arnie
a late-night visit. Arnie speaks of the trou-
ble he is still having coping with Michael's
death. Later on, as Cap and Nomad are
leaping over the rooftops of Manhattan,
Nomad remarks, ' ' I tell you, I feel kinda. . .
sorry for Arnie." Cap says, "He doesn't
need pity, Jack. But he does need friends.
He's a very frightened and very lonely
man." Nomad asks, "What... else is he?"
Cap says, "What do you mean?" Nomad
replies, "Well... the way he talks about
that Michael you'd think..." Unfortun-
ately, the conversation is interrupted by a
giant flying crow. It's obvious that Arnie
has rejoined Captain America's cast of
characters, and writer J M DeMatties
should be applauded for his compassion-
ate and sensitive portrayal of Arnie.

D.C. Comics, the other major company,
is, as usual, light years behind Marvel when
it comes to realism and relevance. One has
to search hard and long to find anything
that appears gay in their comics . Of course,
there's the odd relationship hinted at be-
tween the man-hating Killer Frost and the
Cheetah. But, as we all know, hatred of
men does not necessarily a lesbian make —
even though the two women stroke one an-
other's faces and refer to each other as
"Darling."

Then there are two rather odd villains in
the pages of The Vigilante. Henry and
Marschall, when not doing hired killings,
spend their time together holed up in sleazy
hotel rooms saying things like "Henry
m'love... we don't have to work for any-
one else... we can take over their gangs.
Just the two of us." "Marschall, I love it...
I simply love it."

Things are a little more positive in D . C. 's
new limited maxi-series, Camelot 3000. A
futuristic retelling of the King Arthur
legends, Camelot 3000 has one of the most
interesting plot twists I've ever encoun-
tered in a comic book. Sir Tristan, lover of
King Mark's wife, Isolde!, in the medieval
legend, is reincarnated a; a woman. He is
not happy about this. To make matters
worse, his one true love from the good old
days is also reincarnated, but still as a
woman. Tristan curses his lost masculinity
and his love for Isolde, but a confrontation
finally occurs, climaxing in a very graphic-
ally depicted kiss between the two women.
Tristan races from the apartment in tears,
saying, "No! I love you... and I will love
you... But not like this! f Apparently, in
the year 3000 lesbian love is as radical an
issue as it is for many people now. What a
shame. One would like to think by then
that we would have made a little progress.

If the major publishers are slightly reti-
cent about gay issues, the new companies
are doing better. Again, Marvel has taken
the lead. Their Bizarre Adventures, an over-
size black-and-white publication, contains
' ' Daughters of the Dragon,' ' a story about
a pair of female private investigators which
plays with vampirism and lesbian erotica.
Another piece has a vampire named Bob in

full leather regalia walking his dog Joan
down a dark street. Bob is quickly killed,
and his spiked dog collar is sent to his lover,
a very elegant vampire named Leopold.
The final story in Bizarre Adventures fea-
tures not one gay character but two, and a
bisexual hero. What more could you ask
for your dollar fifty?

First Comics, a relatively new company,
has also used its non-Code status to deal
with gay characters — mostly in their
humour /adventure /satire book, E-Man.
In a very well-done satire of Marvel's
X-Men series, E-Man comes up against the
F-Men and their arch-foe Jason Right-
guard — alias Masternose, manipulator of
noxious smells and a preening, mincing
queen.

Eclipse Comics has introduced a pair of
gay lovers in Sabre — two men who go un-
der the names of Deuces Wild and Summer
Ice. Deuces and Summer are treated in a
very humane, non-stereotypical manner.
Writer Don McGregor has also given sensi-
tive treatment to a lesbian couple in his in-
dependently sold graphic album, Detective
Inc.

In Justice Machine, Texas Comics may
have set a precedent by creating the first-
ever gay superhero. In the first issue, it is
implied that the leader of the Justice Ma-
chine (a band of superpowered beings
fighting evil everywhere) may be in love
with his fellow crime-buster, the impul-
sive, hard-living Demon. Unfortunately,
the truth will never be known as the neo-
phyte publishing company went under be-
fore another issue could be published.

5o — good or bad — gays have
entered the world of comic
books. What's next? Will some-
one at one of the major com-
panies see the light and realize
that, if one in ten people is gay, then the
world of the superhero needs a representa-
tive or two from a significant sector of the
population? The Legion of Superheroes,
for example, numbers upwards of twenty
characters from all across the galaxy, and
even though there are green-skinned char-
acters, albino characters and grey charac-
ters who look like rocks, there isn't one gay
character. Is this because, in the year 2984,
they have finally found a way to eliminate
homosexuality — but not crime? Or be-
cause old prejudices continue to exist de-
spite all the other advances mankind seems
to have made after a thousand years? Will
the more popular titles push to include a
gay character? Or — and the fan press
seems concerned about this at the moment
— will parents look at their children's fun-
ny books and cry out in shock and horror at
the sex and violence that permeates so
much of the comic world today?

Comic books are one of the most popu-
lar forms of entertainment. While the
movie industry, television and the theatre
are scrambling to regain a portion of their
former power, comics are undergoing a
renaissance that is lifting them towards
heights they haven't seen since the end of
the last world war. With the current move
toward the right and the wave of conserva-
tism sweeping the continent, it should be
very interesting to see where it all leads. □

Brad Fraser is a playwright whose works have
been produced from coast to coast. He is also an
avid comic-book fan, and is working on a future
article about comics produced by and for gay
people.

Illustrations of Batman and Wonder Woman in
this article are from Batman From the 30s to the
70s, Bonanza Books, New York, 197 I; and from
The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Vol-
ume 1 — Batman, and Volume 2 — Wonder
Woman, -both by Michael L Fleisher, Collier
Books, New York, 1976.

2

5

34 □ THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY /AUGUST 1984

DELIBERATIONS

Brian Mossop on privacy, pleasure and fraternity

Dancing by yourself

//|| t's raining men," the loud-
■■II speakers proclaimed, and I de-
I cided to go out on the dance-
I floor and get wet. I began near
I a group of men I knew, but
then I floated off alone. Yet I didn't feel
lonely. Instead, I had a sense of dancing
with everyone on the floor.

This brief revelation of a dance floor
as five hundred men dancing with all the
others, rather than two hundred fifty
isolated couples, is for me an image of
what gay liberation is all about: an
image of fraternity.

Remember the motto of the French
Revolution: liberty, equality, fraternity?
For two hundred years now, people have
been fighting and dying for liberty and
equality. But when did you last hear a
ringing call for fraternity? The word
pops up occasionally but, like the Third
Person of the Trinity, not much is ever
said about it. In present-day English,
many of its common uses have unpleas-
ant associations: college fraternities;
fraternizing with the enemy. The words
"brotherhood" and "sisterhood" are
used instead, to express the idea that we
should act towards other human beings
as if they were members of our own
family.

I've never liked the habit, widespread
in a variety of social movements includ-
ing the gay movement, of addressing
people at meetings as "brothers and sis-
ters," and I don't think it's just because
I was an only child. For once you define
the French revolutionaries' ideal of
universal fellowship in family terms (the
"brotherhood of man" or "sisterhood
is powerful"), a problem arises: the very
nature of family life contradicts the
ideal.

Aside from the fact that relations be-
tween siblings can be quite nasty, the
problem is that a family is just me plus
you and perhaps a few relatives. Around
this nucleus, electron-like, some friends
may circulate, but everyone else is ex-
cluded. Everyone else is a stranger. And
remember what your mother told you
about strangers: don't talk to them.
Strangers are "them," the enemy against
which the fortress of our family has been
built. If there were no excluded stran-
gers, there would be no family, so it
makes no sense to say we should treat
strangers as "brothers and sisters."

It's not hard to see why people build
domestic fortresses. The public world of
corporations, bureaucracies and shop-
ping centres, an uneasy world filled with
rumours of war, is a dreary and often
frightening place. The trouble is, the
more people retreat to private and
domestic pursuits, the more the public
world deteriorates into a mean-minded
struggle for competitive advantage, and
the less we have any sense of even local
community, never mind universal fel-
lowship. If we want fellowship, if we
want fraternity, then we must play down
the cult of private home life. We must
"come out" into the public world and
transform it.

•
Though he or she may later become
other things, the stranger is at first a sex-
ual figure. Sex: that is the centrifugal
force that pulls us outward from the lit-
tle circle of those we know to embrace

others. Sex: wrecker of domestic for-
tresses, builder of community. I think of
those wonderful lines of Frederich
Schiller's Ode to Joy, written four years
before the French Revolution began:
Let me wrap you round with this embrace,

you millions,
This kiss I give
to the entire world.

Of course, here in Southern Ontario,
kissing the entire world would come
under the heading of "anonymous,
animal-like coupling with strangers."
This is bad, according to the secularized
Calvinist morality that still weighs like a
nightmare on our minds and bodies in
this part of the world. The ideal is to rise
up out of the gutter and leave our animal
natures behind (you know, sex is dirty
unless redeemed by love, and all that).

Condemnation of any sexual pleasure
that is unredeemed by coupledom fits in-
to the larger pattern of Anglo-Canadian
politics, law and culture. Our society,
remember, is not devoted to the pursuit
of anything as frivolous as happiness. As
Section 91 of the Constitution puts it,
ours are the more sober goals of Peace,
Order and Good Government. Sudden
sex with strangers is simply not very
orderly, and the Criminal Code stands
ever-ready to suppress it. Peaceful
domestic fortress-building is the Cana-
dian way. This aspect of Anglo-Canadi-
an life was on show a while ago at the
Art Gallery of Ontario: the paintings of
Nova Scotia artist Alex Colville are the
perfect embodiment of Order (all those
violent straight lines) and Peace (those
remarkable portrayals of Colville and
his wife in which the couple project a
cold, silent passivity, as if they were
corpses being prepared for the peace of
the grave).

Calvinist morality and the Cult of
Peace and Order permeate Ontoryan so-
ciety from left to right. The dour image
of the NDP and of most Marxists is not

just a media creation. From the way they
talk about socialism, you'd never associ-
ate it with hedonism and joy. And as for
feminists, those who want to free
women's sexuality are being drowned
out these days by the anti-porn crusaders
who, while supposedly combatting sex-
ism, are in practice — whatever their in-
tention — combatting sex.

You might think that the gay move-
ment would be a haven in the storm here,
a place where sexual pleasure outside
lover relationships would not be treated
as a cheap thrill. But no such luck. One
letter writer in the October 1983 issue of
The Body Politic solemnly informs us
that "promiscuity reduces sex to the level
of a mundane, meaningless experience
that lessens the individual's feeling of
self-worth." Another announces repen-
tently that after five years of "countless
men," he had discovered that "it had giv-
en me practically nothing. . . of real value."
"Without emotion," he intones from his
pulpit, "an orgasm is an orgasm. Real
emotion, not prefabricated, improves the
quality of the act." Elsewhere he implies
that the only "real" emotion is what he
calls the "unconditional love" of an on-
going relationship; presumably the feel-
ings one has during an orgasm in the park
are "prefabricated," whatever that
means. Rounding out this dreary litany, a
third epistle-writer exhorts us to discuss
the difference between "libertinism" and
"liberation." He does not offer any def-
initions, however — a practice perhaps
borrowed from the anti-porners, who are
constantly invoking the distinction be-
tween pornography (bad) and erotica
(good) without telling us what it is.

•
To me, an orgasm in the park with a
stranger is not "just an orgasm." It's an
expression of fraternity. And 1 think the
voices that have been promoting anti-
fraternal, domestic values in the gay
community (earlier in the name of re-

spectability, now often in the disguise of
pseudo-scientific warnings about AIDS)
are unlikely to be successful.

We gay people have traditionally been
excluded from home life, and so we have
created an alternate public life that
values strangers. At one time, this may
have been seen by most gays as second
best, a poor substitute for domestic bliss
and "just me and you" romance. But
now it is increasingly an enjoyed way of
living. There is a trend toward seeing
lover relationships as important, but not
the centrepiece of existence. And mon-
ogamy is less and less seen as central to
relationships, precisely because that
would take each of the lovers away from
the larger community (monogamy is
theft, as my lover once put it).

Gay men and lesbians, then, are the
living incarnation of what traditional
family life has excluded: sex for pleasure
with strangers, and the fraternal, anti-
romantic, public way of life that goes
with it. I think this fact about us ac-
counts for the animosity toward us of
many heterosexuals, even some who sup-
port gay rights. For the lives of most
heterosexuals are still anchored in
private domestic life. Except for a de-
creasing number of traditionalists who
fear the decline of life-long monogam-
ous marriage with the woman at home,
heterosexuals are not worried by the fact
that we fail to marry a member of the
opposite sex. At most, that makes us
harmless eccentrics. What is worrying is
not what we don 7 do, but what we do
'instead. We make home life (with or
without a lover, with or without chil-
dren) secondary to public life. Our
culture is not a cult of privacy, not a cult
of couples. There's no such thing as a
gay singles bar because we are all single.
Lover relationships are transient (with
exceptions like the one of the present
writer, who will soon be celebrating his
tenth anniversary). What is permanent
are the public institutions: community
groups, baths, bars.

The centre of gay life is outside the
home. However much we may try to re-
treat into the home, the bars have a cons-
tant fascination, even while we keep tell-
ing each other how awful (indeed, unfra-
ternal) they can be. They are fascinating
because we know that they are where our
identity is, or at any rate where it must be
developed. You can be a homosexual at
home, but you can't be gay there.

•
Beyond gay rights and sexual freedom,
this is the prospect offered by gay libera-
tion: a fraternal public life as the focus of
our lives, and hence a commitment to
make that public world better in all ways.
This future we can now only glimpse,
fleetingly and very imperfectly, in our
existing gay communities. But it is a real
potential, firmly grounded in the very
way gay men and lesbians presently live.

Let us not be tempted by the empty
dream of private romance hidden aw. is
from the world. Let us build a liveable
public world of play and work, where \se
can dance by ourselves yet not be alone.
Let us proudly affirm the fraternal way.
Let us proclaim it as the path to a hap
pier life for our whole society.
lirmn KtOSSOpiSO lor itnlo translator and

advocate oj hedonistic socialism

THE BODY POLITIC [ 1 JULY/AUGUST 1984 35

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36 □ THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY /AUGUST 1984

There was a bounce in my step —
and a touch of trepidation, too —
as I climbed the stairs to Toronto's
A Space (a nice place, as galleries
go) to check out "Eros West," one
of a series of exhibitions mounted this
past March under the banner "Alter /-
Eros." Tension wasn't limited to the
tingling in my knees, and it wasn't just
anxiety about "Art" in a "Gallery"
either. This was supposed to be art about
sexuality and, while the world didn't
equip me to talk about sex any better
than I can talk about art, at least it com-
pelled me to think a lot about sex. It
wasn't so much that I was excited about
the festival as that I wanted to be excited
by it.

This is the second year in a row femin-
ist artists in Toronto joined forces to pro-
duce a festival in the spring, but it's the
first time anyone tried to focus such an
event on erotica. This year's coalition .
brought together Women's Culture
Building, Pelican Players, Women's
Media Alliance, A Space and Women's
Perspective. The festival wasn't as well-
publicized as it might have been, but
there was a lot of anticipation in the air as
the project unfolded.

Pornography is a hot topic these days,
and many feminist critics have urged us
to try to distinguish "pornography" from
"erotica" and to take control of the
production of our own sexual images.
"Alter/Eros" promised to be a great col-
lective opportunity to do so.

•
I had reached the gallery. Was that blood-
dripped doorway a cunt? Could that
comical, leaning, tasseled upright be a
cock? Oops. "Two verticals," the card on
the wall said. Two other majestic "verti-
cals" were nearby; by artist Betty Kaser,
they were called "The ring goddess" and
"Maidenhead." They were carefully
draped folds of canvas in unliving colour.
My body wasn't fooled, and I had to sup-
press an urge to dance a little circle
around these giant clits under a full
moon. But verticals don't reciprocate: no
stiffening (except what was there to begin
with), no slime, no resonance.

There was an almost-tit alternative to
lean against, snuggle up to, suckle may-
be. Joan Burutski called her huge, deli-
cate mobile of dancing, weaving feathers
in a gauzy white dome "Enchanted For-
est." There it sat, a tempting refuge, but
oh-so-pure and just out of reach. Maybe
if I'd gone back when no one else was
there.... "Passion's source" by Diana
Braun-Woodbury was another clit. Or
was it just a seashell's whorl, to match her
other painting, "By the sea?" That one,
as the title implies, was a view of a beach
— albeit a still, calm and inviting one.

There were would-be clits that seemed
to have been formed from table napkins.
Cute — the sort of thing I'd be thrilled to
find on a neighbour's coffee table. But
these were arranged on a wall with pears
and napkin cones and called "In the pro-
cess of knowing." (Am I in the wrong
place? I don't want to know, I want to try
to feel without having to think first. Is
that too impossible a fantasy?)

Some of the art in the gallery was just
plain irritating. Elizabeth Phillmore's
"The exhibitionist seeks the voyeur," for
example, was a keyhole with a mirror on
the other side. Some of it was spooky.
Was Ana Palma dos Santos trying to
make an appeal to the necrophiles in the
crowd with her red box with three holes
cut into it and herself lying inside? And
some of it, like Cindy Deachmen's twist-
ed and plundered miniature garden,
"Passage of time," and Francesca Viven-
zer's "Eros in my studio," seemed to
share the notion that Eros is a pretty
scary character.

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The feminist festival

of erotica certainly wasn't pornographic

— but was it sexy? Three assessments

by women who went to take a look.

The festival had a problem with
names. One show was called "Eros
East," another "Eros West," and
several parts of it were called "Desire,"
including an installation and supermar-
ket by Women's Perspectives. A super-
market ? Would you believe a parody of
the "novelty" shop: one cunt in a wine
goblet and another in a Kleenex box;
"Dreamhome," a doll-house being rav-
ished by King Kong; a cat made out of a
tampon; a perfect little vacuum clean-
er/aspiration unit — the UterHoover;
placemats and buttons with poetry on
them — and a whole rack of cards that
you could actually buy.

The Women's Perspective's installation
tried to maintain the same commitment

to humour. It was dominated by the
"Desire Freize," which covered three
walls and was a collective effort that tried
to hammer home the moral of our "com-
mon story." It combined all the worst
characteristics of the stereotype of "art
by committee." The "Desire Bed," a
rusting frame blanketed with shredded,
pink and glittering silk and satin, was a
study in disillusionment by Shawna
Dempsey and Barbara Webb. Suzanne
Kelly contributed two works, "Menstru-
ating orchids" and "He cupped her
breast," which were, I think, pokes at
worn-out cliches.

The Womens' Perspective collective
"Menstrual Hut" and "The Goddess
Closet" (Lynn Hutchinson-Brown)

represented another theme common to
the parts of the festival I saw: female
spirituality as a substitute for sexuality.
Who wouldn't like a cozy little blood-
coloured womb to retreat to, with magic
potions and a hot-water bottle, reading,
writing and knitting materials, and even a
ceiling made of tampons? Maybe in a cor-
ner of the basement? I wasn't so sure I'd
want to bring home the shrine, with its
offerings of birds' nests, bones, lace and
flowers. But what does any of this have to
do with sex, love, lust or desire?

"Was it art?" a friend asked.

"It sure wasn't pornography," I
assured her.

"Then it must have been erotica."

The festival left me in a stew: was it a
search for an alternative eros, or for an
alternative to eros? "Alternatives" were
certainly not based on the experience of
sexual minorities; there was little overt
lesbian content, nothing that might quali-
fy as "politically incorrect" sex. Actual-
ly, there was little that was overt at all.
Sexuality was presented only abstractly,
symbolically or indirectly, and usually in
political terms. How could a festival that
failed to be explicit about sex work as
erotica? What would have to change be-
fore the festival artists would feel safe
enough to be explicit?

How is it that the imperative to separ-
ate pornography from erotica has slipped
by us without much critical examination?
Everyone has read or heard at least one
discussion of the different roots of the
two words. Both are from the Greek;
' 'pornography' ' means ' 'writing about
harlots" while "erotica" is "that which
concerns itself with sexual love."

The rise of modern feminism roughly
paralleled the increasing availability and
sophistication of birth control, allowing
for the potential disentangling of sex
from reproduction. And it didn't take
feminist thinkers long to begin question-
ing our assumptions about the entangle-
ment of sex and love. The movement re-
jected pornography's mandate that men
be active, selfish and independent; it
questioned romanticism's demand that
women be passive, selfless and depen-
dent. If porn is about the domination of
women through sex, then romantic love
and its depictions are about women's in-
ternalized oppression, which so effective-
ly sustains that domination. How can the
latter be posed as an alternative to the
former? (After all, like sex, oppression is
often that much "better" when you do it
to yourself.) Is this the obstacle to our
search for erotica?

Nowadays, judges are convicting the
makers and distributors of pornography
on the grounds that porn degrades worn-

A poor excuse

Sonja Mills discovers

what 's left of eroticism when

the body isn *t there

According to an article by Amanda Hale
about the "Alter/Eros" Festival in the
April issue of Broadside, the feminist
review published in Toronto, "the current
activity around the concept of female eros
has grown out of the concern of a strong
feminist movement with the damage done
to women and children by pornography.
Pornography is the extreme perversion of
the pure spirit of the erotic, hence the
hand-in-hand campaign to fight pornog-
raphy and reclaim eros."

Noble and worthwhile.

"It is a quest, via painting, sculpture,
theatre, poetry, music, and photography,
to reclaim and assert our sexuality."

Interesting. And indeed, a noble and
worthwhile quest.

I went to see all the festival art shows,
and was disappointed. "Desire," the first
show, was frightening. There were paint-
ings of naked women with distorted faces
(or no faces as all), hard and pointy (or
no) tits, and ominous red vaginas swal-
lowing everything in their paths. I didn't
see desire, I saw rage. And it didn't turn
me on.

The second show, "Eros East," wasn't
quite as scary. But I still didn't see an>
thing I considered "eros," and it still
didn't gel me wet. Neither did (he third
show, "Eros West," though it was by lai
the most interesting. I saw a box with a
person inside and baby shoes encircling ■
statue of the Virgin Mary.

The Broadside article admits the lack of
"specific images dealing with female sex-
ual desire," but it has an explanation:
"The female body as an image, regardless
of its context , has been so denigrated and
objectified that the real person inhabiting
the body is no longer there. In the absence
of the person it is impossible to use the
body in order to communicate something
from the heart, i.e. something erotic.''

So, eros is within the heart of a person,
and this person can't be shown as having
a body because the image of the female
body will be misconstrued as pornogra-
phy. So remove the body and leave the
person, and you arc left with something
erotic. Is that right? Am 1 close?

I agree thai "heart, mind and spirit"
are important elements of eros, and that
"sensation without feeling" is a terrible
thing. So what has "Aha Bros" left us
with? Baby shoes and the Virgin
Man ...

-

THE BODY POLITIC TJ JULY /AUGUST 1984 L 37

en. Why do the supreme patriarchs think
porn is degrading? Because it isn't loving
and romantic. And not many voices of
protest — or even clarification — are be-
ing raised by feminists. The woman de-
picted in porn is condemned for betraying
her sex by acting out the role of "whore."
But the whore is only one side of a two-
edged stereotype of women. The other
side is the "madonna," the virtuous cate-
gory for the majority of women who are
kept in this, their place, by the threat of
otherwise being labeled "whore." How is
it that the woman who crusades against
pornography is forgiven for the fact
(when anyone actually notices it) that she
lends credence to the more pristine role in
this confining, either /or script? How is it
we're told that one role is male-authored
while the other is not?

Sadly, the Alter /Eros Festival revealed
that much feminist determination to ex-
plore and reclaim the territory of sex has
been dissipated. Neither feminism nor
gay liberation has ever really tried to
understand and appreciate the rebellious-
ness of the self-declared pervert. The sex-
hungry woman is such a pervert; what-
ever her orientation, she leaves her pre-
scribed role far behind. She has long been
neglected in the rush to define and rede-
fine female sexual potential. What does it
mean when she decides to toy with the
contradictions in her life by expressing
herself as a slut, a dominatrix, someone
who does it for money or for fun rather
than to "nurture" or "express commit-
ment"? Is the slut "colonized"? Aren't
we all? And if getting beyond that coloni-
zation means taking risks, then who has
the better record in the risk-taking de-
partment — the madonna or the whore?

The festival included nothing so base as
a direct appeal to the body — that would
have been dangerous. The closest it came
to taking risks was to flirt with the danger
of ignoring them — like someone tread-

ing the edge of a precipice with her eyes
clamped shut. That's a good way to slip
into risks accidentally — risks like sacri-
ficing the bad girl whores so we can ap-
peal to all the good girl madonnas out
there, trying to convince them that we
frightening "women's libbers" have been
good girls all along; risks like reinforcing
the modesty and shame that have so long
deprived women of knowledge of — and
power over — our own bodies; risks like
elevating the nurturing, spiritual earth-
mother /goddess to the standard against
which all female sexuality and all feminist
erotic art must be judged.

Better to have one's eyes open. As
Ellen Willis observed at the end of Diary
of a Conference on Sexuality, "I believe
that as the sexuality debate goes, so goes
feminism. The tendency of some femin-
ists to regard women purely as sexual vic-
tims rather than sexual subjects, and to
define the movement's goals as control-
ling male sexuality rather than demanding
women's freedom to lead active sexual
lives reinforces women's oppression and
plays into the hands of the new right. It is
a deadened politics of despair. Feminism
is a vision of active freedom, of fulfilled
desires, or it is nothing."

Maybe we haven't yet had time to cre-
ate safe enough spaces in which to put
our own bodies and sexual experiences on
display, to give voice to the ways in which
we see our bodies or the ways in which
they are aroused. But we can't wait for
that unspecified time — we can't build
without trying to live today. We have to
be brave enough to work with our own
imperfect experiences and perceptions,
trying to learn where they are deficient.
We must refuse to be stopped by those
factors not yet in our control.

The risks worth taking intentionally,
rather than by accident, are the ones that
go with an unapologetic grab for
freedom. Chris BearchellD

From passion
to theory

38 □ THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY /AUGUST 1984

A Festival diary
by Jane Smith

March 23: "Desire." Lucky me. I am
contracted to light two performances
pieces to be done at the "Alter/ Eros
Desire Environment." I've been anx-
ious to work on the festival since
January, when it was outlined to me as
a dive into the passions of women's
sexuality — DESIRE! We'll see....
March 25: 1 read one of the scripts to-
day, "A Play on Colours." Its idea of
erotic exploration appeared to be
humanizing the whore, modernizing
the housewife and devirginizing a sexu-
ally uptight journalist by having her
dance in a spectrum of light. The play
works well as a transitional element to
the exploration of the erotic. What it
needs is a good sister piece to follow;
one that takes you beyond the dance
and inside this woman's erotic self.
April 4: Has the festival shunned
(shamed?) eroticism from its face?
What is exhibited is less an expose' of
desire and desire stimuli and more a
collage of female parts (sans erotique),
functions, history and mythology. It's
all relevant — no, related — to our
gender, but not our sexuality, sexual
nature and eroticism. There's even a
lot of humour: A UterHoover for
sucking out menstrual discharges
(though I'd bet you'd spend five days
recovering from such a trauma); a
hooked rug of a breast concealed by a
cup — complete with literary excerpts

on cupping breasts — and a tamponed
orchid, also hooked. I began to think
that the humour was there to prevent a
sensual contemplation of the erotic na-
ture of menstrual blood, breasts and
cunts. The most desire I experience was
late tonight on the "Desire Bed," but it
didn't have anything to do with the ex-
hibition — or the bed, for that matter.
April 11: The long awaited pajama
party was tonight at the Environment.
I walked in at about eleven o'clock to
see about eight women sitting on pil-
lows in PJs drinking beer and watching
Zelig. It looks like they had fun, but it
just wasn't desire.

April 12: Phew, the anxiety's past — I
really hate openings, especially for
shows that I've worked on. The two
pieces were well-performed and effec-
tive as feminist pieces. In the jucier
show, Breasts, Shawna Dempsey de-
veloped a strong collage of images of
breasts, societal reactions to them (in
blunt confrontation) and women's
relationships with them. It blended
humour with sensuality and was the
closest glimpse of desire or erotica that
I've gotten at the festival. There was
no shame, no excuses, and her open-
ness was accentuated by encouraging
discussion immediately after the show.
April 15: Post mortem. After the fact,
I'm still bet on the premise that
"Alter/Eros" should be part of a
multi-phase excavation of women's
erotica. The presentations I've seen
were interesting and innovative, but
not erotic or orgasmic. I'm sure
"Alter /Eros" — and reactions to it —
will give its mother feminist arts com-
munity some thought food. I just hope
we'll use this freedom of expression to
get beyond theory and history, valid as
they are. D

Ever since I got a review copy of
the Spartacus travel guide,
friends who are planning to go
away this summer have been ask-
ing if they can come over "just to
have a look." During the same period of
time I have also become aware that the
gay publications I'm associated with
find the guide useful because it lists com-
munity organizations and describes laws
and attitudes relating to homosexuality
in virtually every country in the world.
But for the last few years the Spartacus
guide has been getting bad press in the
international gay movement. Because
the compilers rely on people sending in-
formation in, the guide is occasionally
unreliable or out of date. But this isn't
the main problem. In fact, the guide em-
bodies a whole series of contradictions
that can be very instructive to explore.

Huts in palm groves behind the beach
can be hired for the night for a few ru-
pees at Kovalum, India. But homosexu-
ality is illegal in India and, according to
the predominant Hindu religion, is a
perverse vice introduced by foreigners.
India is a crowded country and Spar-
tacus advises visitors to be firm with the
multitude of beggars. So, if my friends
take a look at the world according to
Spartacus, they find good-looking
young men selling lobster lunches on the
beach at Kovalum; but also some of the
800 million people in the world who live
in absolute poverty. What gives us the
right just to glance at poverty and then
glance away again?

Still and all, even the most concerned
person enjoys thumbing through the
Spartacus guide. It's pointless to pre tend
that this is not so. There is a kind of
pleasure in having the world in a good
book. In a long tradition of homosexual
writing, other places are often the only
imaginable free spaces. It starts with
Corydon waiting "among the thick
beeches with their shady summits" for
Alexis to come shoot deer with him. Un-
fortunately for Corydon, if you remem-
ber the story, Alexis decided to stay
home that year. There is an enjoyable
kind of power in being able to choose to
travel or to leave a country. People who
live in poverty do not very often have the
power to leave.

There is also an anxiety about the
world that makes us want to read and
know more. Our lives are connected
with others through complex and power-
ful economic and political institutions.
The world seems to press in on us: on the
surface, we are controlled by news head-
lines, protest marches, increased prices
for raw materials. Behind this it's not
difficult to see international power
struggles, economic interests and net-
works of influence that seem far beyond
the influence of any one person. In the
worst possible scenario, every life on this
planet could be disasterously affected in
a matter of minutes. We read with a kind
of absorbed and concentrated interest:
India is one of the states in the world
that has manufactured and tested a nu-
clear weapon.

Actually, there is nothing about nucle-
ar weapons in the Spartacus guide. I
found that out from another handbook:
the radical political World View 1984. It
gives a perspective that makes an inter-
esting comparison with the guide. I've
also looked at the widely used Fodor's
series of travel guides; they, like the
Spartacus guide, don't make much
direct reference to political issues.
World View 1984 states that female

Spartacus International Gay Guide (or Men.
1984. Edited by John D Stamford. Spartacus
Books, (Box 3496, 1001 AG Amsterdam. The
Netherlands). $20 including postage.

GRID

^ajjjj ACCORDING TO

OPARTACUS

THE

prostitution has become a fundamental
element of tourism in Asia. For 70 to 80
percent of male tourists, that's the sole
reason they choose a holiday there. (I
wonder how they got that statistic.)
Apart from this, US military bases in
Asia bring with them the rest-and-recre-
ation centres for GIs on leave. The two
largest US overseas air and naval bases
are in the Philippines.

The Philippines has a very poor rec-
ord in the area of basic human rights.
The country is dominated by President
Marcos, who controls the government
by placing relatives and cronies in key
economic, military and political posi-
tions. Even though martial law was lift-
ed in 1981, Marcos still retains enormous
personal power. But according to
Fodor's Southeast Asia 1984, "Nowhere
is democratic politics played with such
fire and passion," and the guidebook
recommends a visit to the grounds of the
presidential palace in Manila. Fodor's
also recommends a visit to the presi-
dent's summer home at Bagio. The in-
ternational rip-off of the Philippines'
sugar, agricultural products and miner-
als "helps to finance industrialization."
Nor is Fodor's above a little titillation.
Most visitors will remark, we are told,
"I didn't know there were so many pret-
ty girls!" Male tribesmen in the north
"wear tasseled G-strings and little else."
But the worst thing in Fodor's is the triv-
ialization of political power. The United
States controlled the islands from 1898
to 1946, and still maintains large military
bases at Subic Bay and Clark. You have
to look in World View 1984 to find that
out, though. Fodor Aversion is that,
"Almost from the beginning, the United
States promised the Philippines indepen-
dence." Indeed.

In Spartacus, the point of a holiday to
the Philippines is at least not a cheap
binge of consumerism or awe at such
blatant symbols of power as the presi-
dential palace. Spartacus gives a guide to
local gay meeting places. It also desci ibes

local cultural traditions of bisexuality,
often mainly for young men. The Spar-
tacus guide always has to deal with state
power, at least with regard to laws about
homosexuality in different countries.
The 1984 description of the Philippines
does also mention the serious civil unrest
which has increased since the assassina-
tion last August of former Senator
Benigno Aquino.

Sexual tourism exists because of cultur-
al differences which have survived into
the 20th century in "underdeveloped"
countries. And prices are lower in these
countries because of an unequal world
economy that if put right would mean a
lower standard of living for virtually
every Spartacus reader. Most of us bene-
fit from living in economies that rip off
the "underdeveloped" world. The Phil-
ippines is a poor country by our stan-
dards, and tourist dollars are badly
needed. Fodor's suggests that in the
poorer northern regions gifts of matches
and salt will be most acceptable.

John Stamford, the compiler of the
Spartacus guide, has written on several
occasions about some of the problems of
gay sexual tourism. Ten years ago, the
cultural tradition of tolerance for bisex-

Spartacus's Stamford: the guide isn't perfect,
but neither is the world it has to deal with

uality among young men and the pover-
ty of the Philippines made it a gay
"paradise." But foolish gay tourists, a
deteriorating economy and a moral
crackdown on sex with young men have
meant that the paradise days are over.
The influx of tourists has given rise to
various extortion rackets that include
young men, their families, corrupt pol-
ice and newspapers. Spartacus all but
advises people not to visit the country
anymore because of the very real possi-
bility of blackmail and expulsion for
"sexual perversion."

The issues of unequal power and
resources here are very difficult ones.
Stamford tries to deal with the inherent
contradictions as matters for personal
responsibility on the part of his readers.
He asks tourists to be discreet, not to
make promises to young men that can't
be kept, to respect local cultures and not
to pay young men amounts of money
that their parents could only earn by
three months of hard work. The advice
is probably fairly sensible, although it
doesn't attempt to tackle the broader
issues of global politics.

Advice of this sort has been sharply
criticized by the International Gay
Association, among others. They say
that all Spartacus is saying is not to pay
the boys too much or prices will rise for
the next tourist. The guide's description
of available Third World young men and
its occasional warnings about theft have
been accused by the IGA of racism. (It's
useful here to remember here that virtu-
ally every tourist guide warns visitors to
safeguard their valuables against theft,
and this is also sensible advice for any-
one visiting a gay bath in any metropol-
itan city.) The debate has centred on the
entry for Colombia in Spartacus '83, a
report written by someone who had lived
there for four years. "Select a sexy
teenager who is himself cruising," it ad-
vised. "Never trust a Colombian teen-
ager you meet on the street; you can go
with him to a bar or to a restaurant, but
avoid taking him to your hotel." The
IGA asked Stamford to edit out these
kinds of remarks, but the entry for Col-
ombia in Spartacus '84 has not been
changed.

The entry should have been changed,
just as other thoughtless descriptions of
the gay scene in countries like South
Africa need to be changed. (Laws which
discriminate against the black majority
of the population, segregated railways,
buses and other services are dealt with
too lightly.) And as other reviewers have
pointed out for their own countries,
some bars have closed down and those
entries need to be changed, too.

Travel, for whatever reason, can make
people very aware of issues in the world
today. I know someone who thought
world politics was a subject to be avoid-
ed until he visited Colombia for a holi-
day. The value of such experiences
makes it desirable to avoid a rather silly
confrontation between the "political"
and "commercial" wings of the gay
movement. People working for social
change have to live their lives now and
not in some perfected world to come. It
makes no sense to tell gay men not to
visit Third World countries.

In any event, my friends are still
thumbing through the Spartacus guide
There will always be problems with the
guide because it exists within world con-
tradictions for which John Stamford
alone can't beheld responsible. It prob-
ably has Fewer objectionable aspects
than the Fodoi 's series, We ask John
Stamford that Spartacus be better next
year, and the yeai after that, and the
year attei that. too.

\l:in O'Connor

ir* POLITIC C I JULY/AUGUST 1984 39

AESTHETERA

Fiction

Extramuros by Jesus Fernandez Santos is
receiving substantial praise. A nun in 15th-cen-
tury Inquisitorial Spain persuades her lover,
another nun, to wound the former's hands in
imitation of Christ's stigmata, so she may be-
come a saint and bring wealth and fame to
their poor convent. The plan fails and both are
disgraced, and follow each other into death.
(Columbia University Press, $19.95 US.)

Based on a legend in Brittany, Jeannine
Allard's Legende: The Story of Philippa and
Aurelie is about two women who successfully
fool an entire town into believing they are man
and wife. The mystery is revealed years later,
after a statue is erected in honour of the "hus-
band" lost at sea. (Alyson Publications, Box
2783, Boston, MS 02208; $5.95 US.) The
Reach, And Other Stories, edited by Lilian
Mohin and Sheila Shulman is an anthology of
lesbian feminist fiction. (Onlywomen Press, 38
Mt Pleasant, London WC1X OAP.)

In Old Dyke Tales, Lee Lynch strings
together stories told by her characters in the
Cafe Fennes, including 80-year-old August
Brennan. In The Burnton Widows, Vicki P
McConnell follows journalist /detective Nyla
Wade (first encountered in Mrs Porter's Let-
ter) to a castle on the Oregon coast which has
apparently harboured several generations of
lesbians. (Both $7.95 US from Naiad Press,
Box 10543, Tallahassee, FL 32302.)

Why We Never Danced the Charleston, a
first novel by Harlan Greene about three men
in the gay underworld of 1923 Charleston,
comes with kudos from one voracious reader
of gay fiction around the office, and from
Publisher's Weekly: "Written in a lyrical,
evocative prose, the story is often moving."
(St Martin's Press, $12.95 US.)

Tom Wakefield tells the story of Cyril and
Len, two men working for Britain's National
Service in the 50s, in Mates (Gay Men's Press,
c/o Alyson Publications, see above; $6.50 US).
Also from Gay Men's Press is Flame: A Life
on the Game, an autobiography by a London
hustler who quit school at fourteen to make a
living. The Boys on the Rock, by John Fox, is
a first novel being trumpeted as the gay
Catcher in the Rye. A Catholic teenager in the
late 60s, amid many other problems, is work-
ing on the McCarthy presidential campaign.
(St Martin's Press, $11.95).

The adventures of Clarisse Lovelace and
Daniel Valentine ( Vermilion and Cobalt) conti-
nue in Nathan Aldyne's Slate (Random
House, $16.95). Just as Valentine is opening a
new gay bar in Boston's South End, the corpse
of Sweeney Drysdale II, gossip columnist
extraordinaire, turns up in Clarisse's bed.
"The characters here are less interesting than
in the earlier books," says Publisher's Weekly,
"and the dialogue not as breezy and clever."
John Preston, author of Franny and / Once
Had A Master launches "The Missions of Alex
Kane" with Sweet Dreams (Alyson, see above;
$4.95 US). Kane, an ex-Marine whose lover is
killed in Vietnam because he is gay, returns to
Boston determined "to protect the sweet
dreams of gay America," receiving orders

from his late lover's father. PW: "This won't
really reach beyond the specialized readership
it's aimed at."

Edward O Phillips follows up his popular
Sunday 's Child with another novel on the
amusing misfortunes of a lonely gentleman
among Montreal's English upper classes, in
Where There's a Will (McClelland & Stewart,
$18.95). With Foreign Bodies, the popular
critic and essayist Barbara Grizzuti Harrison
attempts a novel, about a successful divorced
journalist who finds herself obsessed with
Devi — a very beautiful Indian artist and gay
man. (Doubleday, $16.95).

Britain's Brilliance Books continues its fine
line-up with Thomas Lyster: A Cambridge
Novel by David Wurtzel ($6.95 US).
After 21 years of hamburgers, soda pop and
no sex, Neil moves from the States to Eng-
land, where his new college roommate is the
promiscuous, bisexual Thomas Lyster. Also
from Brilliance: The Wounded by Tom Clark-
son ($6.95 US), written in 1953 and unavail-
able since, the story of Chris, a gay drag per-
former, and the woman he loves (praised by
Edith Sitwell as "really magnificent — I can-
not praise it sufficiently"); and Raptures of
the Deep by Peter Hazeldine (£2.95), a first
novel, about growing up gay in Manchester.
(Brilliance Books, 14 Clerkenwell Green,
London EC1, England).

From National Lampoon Presents: Cartoons Even WE Wouldn't Dare Print, yours for $2.95.

models has produced Moll Cutpurse: Her
True History by Ellen Galford. Loosely based
on the life of the apparently lesbian Moll
Frith, who spent her rebellious life
(1584-1659) as a pickpocket and fortune-
teller among the rogues and beggers of Lon-
don's Fleet Street. (Available from
Stramullion (a feminist publishing collective),
43 Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh EH1 2QB,
Scotland, for £4.50, including postage.)

Crazy like a fox

Why would Plume Books send us a copy of
Boy Crazy: An Intimate Look at Today's Young
Stars, who can "bring out the animal instinct
in a woman and leave her feeling as breath-
less as her adolescent sister" ? These are the
same people who blessed the world with Not
Just a Pretty Face: An Intimate Look at
America's Top Male Models, by the way.
Could it be they're hoping this will be a treat
for gay readers (and lookers) as well? After
all, one of these gorgeous fellows says his
favourite author is Somerset Maugham. . . .
Hey, they even included Boy George!

But then again, maybe it was just a mix-up
in the mail. . . .

Non-fi

The current interest in the life and work of
Proust (a film is on the way from Europe) is
accommodated with the first volume of his
correspondence, Marcel Proust, Selected Let-
ters: 1880-1903 (The Anchor Library,
Doubleday; $9.95 US). Also of interest is The
Aesthetic of Sexuality in the Life, Times and
Art of Marcel Proust by J E Rivers (Cam-
bridge University Press, $15.65). C A Tripp,
author of The Homosexual Matrix, says of
the latter: "Overwhelming! I know of no
other modern book on sex that so thoroughly
explores the varying 20th-century thought
toward it."
The search through history books for role

And now, the George-cott

We picked this
We're not sure

- — "7 — — " »9 — — —

up on the street a few days ago — a gift from Toronto looney Stew Newton
what we're going to do with all this shredded wheat now. . . .

POSITIVE PARENTS OF CANADA

Boy George sings for his supper
of Nabisco Shredded Wheat

Warning. . • HOMO-
SEXUALITY is a
.earned behavior.
IS Nabisco k Boy
'George providing
more than food for
.-.nought: «*•'*
let Nabisco i Boy
George tux* your
-io»e into * homo-
sexual classroom.
JOIN THE BOYCOTT
x 2326 Postal Stat

boycott

ttarenu&at
Mashrn B»» ska* Sareajtod *■**•;.,„ w~ teaa rimed b> K«*be» to

jSsAsr^f »; r1l\tTron1'hP»t1ofp:"i»»«

r^..on for boycotting "^f °; .^^'na^d 'Boy George' promot
triangle that -ill ••• * »kDt^bl£o ShreddedWheat, ••"•";•
inq MlTHTf* *■**»" ' * P aticK, » aoi • - - t A„ -Mi>naz in9 ai

appearing on (.he Hon t cover oi vanity T»

a Jure Bride.

ion C. Downsview Ontario. M3N 2Nb.

Phone 416«W««V>

boycott

boycott

boycott

In a similar vein, Sybil Oldfield relates the
life-long friendship of F M Mayor, author of
several successful novels about the emotional
lives of women, and suffragist and pacifist
Mary Sheepshanks, in Spinsters of this Parish
(Virago Press, Academic Press of Canada;
$15.95). Mayor and Sheepshanks first met at
Cambridge in the 1890s. Samuel M Steward
has reissued his Dear Sammy: Letters From
Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas (St
Martin's Press, $7.95 US), with a new memoir
on his encounters with the pair.

Poet Rudy Kikel has put together an auto-
biography of sorts with Lasting Relations
(Sea Horse Press, 307 W 1 1th St, New York,
NY 10014; $5.95 US), including poems and
essays on family, friends, tricks and enemies.
"Stylish, elegant and clever," says Publishers
Weekly, "in the tradition of Oscar Wilde."
Also recommended by PW is The Idiot
Princess of the Last Dynasty by Peter Klap-
pert (Knopf, $15.95). The setting: a Parisian
cafe. The speaker: a gay Irish-American with
a ribald wit, who recreates the tremendous in-
tellectual and artistic activity in Paris follow-
ing the first World War.

Nice Jewish Girls: A Lesbian Anthololgy,
the provocatively varied collection edited by
Evelyn Torton Beck, has been republished by
The Crossing Press's Feminist Series (Box
640, Trumansburg, NY 14886; $8.95 US).
Mary Daly's latest work is a "modern femi-
nist mythology" (complete with Witches,
Nags, Fates, Dykes and Augurs) called Pure
Lust: Elemental Feminist Philosophy
(Beacon, $25.95). Unlike the aggressive and
object-centred lust identified with men, "pure
lust" connects one with the rhythms of
nature and ties instinct and intuition to
reason. PW: "The author's profuse jargon
has become more ingrown with each new
book.... But her message is powerful."

Bisexual and Homosexual Identities:
Critical Theoretical Issues, edited by John P
De Cecco and Michael G Shively is Issue 8 of
Research on Homosexuality, available for

$22.95 US from The Haworth Press, 28 East
22nd St, New York, NY 10010. Also in the
series is Human Sexuality in Medical Social
Work, edited by Larry Lister and Avid A
Shore, available for $19.95 US.

The Truth About AIDS: Evolution of an
Epidemic by Ann Giudici Fettner and
William A Check (Holt, $15.95), to be re-
leased at the end of June, deals with some of
the homophobic prejudice that has been en-
gendered by AIDS, as well as the apparent
lack of research cooperation among competi-
tive medical groups and health agencies.

John AllecH

Pop music

• You all remember The Weather Girls ("It's
Raining Men")? Well, they've come up with a
new single called "Success." Pay special
attention to the lyrics: "We'd like to thank
the public for making us stars /Especially the
boys in the backroom bars." Finally — some
credit where credit's due!

• Toronto's Pukka Orchestra have redeemed
themselves somewhat after their horrid
butchering of Tom Robinson's "Listen to the
Radio." Their new single "Cherry Beach Ex-
press" has a very catchy beat, nice vocal har-
mony, and some very not nice things about
encounters with Toronto's boys in blue:
"That's why I'm ridin' on the Cherry beach
Express / My wrists are broken and my face is
in a mess." 4Q52! It's available in record
stores around town on their self-titled album.

• The battle lines have been drawn among the
leaders of England's gender-bender camp.
Alas, it seems that those girls just can't get
along with one another. At first, it was claws
out between the haughty Marilyn and that
"over made-up tart" (thank you, Princess
Margaret) Boy George. That altercation seems
to have ended, only to be replaced by a nasty
fight between George and Pete Burns, the out-
rageous lead singer of Dead or Alive ("That's
the way, uh-huh, uh-huh..."). The English
music mags are eagerly recording each episode,
and the latest issue of New Musical Express
lets them both have a go. Boy George makes
some interesting observations, proposes a
truce, and closes with a call to arms against
violent homophobia: "That's what we should
be fighting, not each other." Miss Burns, it
seems, will have none of this: "Fuck off. I
don't talk to men in dresses," quoth he. No
malice intended, he continues, he's just
"naturally" mean and bitchy. I'll say — his
fave fantasy is down on record as "sucking
Muhammed Ali's knob," he didn't mind a
magazine headline claiming he was found
naked in bed with 50 sailors, and he once
cancelled an interview with the explanation, "I
tripped over a pile of men and hurt my ankle."

• Pete and Princess Maggie aren't the only
ones after Boy George: The Marxist-Leninist,
the organ of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of Canada, has declared
that he's "an instrument of imperialist cul-
tural aggression to glorify the barren waste-
land in man's spiritual life which has been
created by imperialism.... He is their agent,
to spread the lack of convictions amongst the
youth. The ideals of parasitism, decay and
corruption...." Isn't it funny how this sounds
just like the elder Mormons at Brigham
Young University in Utah, who banned C*ul-
ture Club's albums because they are "promo-
ting homosexuality and transvestism." Don't
these people know a good drag queen when
theyseeone? AlanMcGintyP

^CJTHE BODY POLITIC u JULY/ AUGUST 1984

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SHARED GROUND

JOY PARKS

Special people and chocolate explosions

I returned from my first visit to San
Francisco last month feeling as if I'd
been to lesbian writer's mecca. Just to be
there, in a city that must hold the record
for most lesbian writers per square mile,
was truly invigorating. The city itself,
the entire Bay area, is remarkable — the
ocean, the eucalyptus-scented Berkeley
hills, the tiny shrimp in tomato sauce
which I ate while breathing the fishy air

of the wharf. But certainly one of the
highlights of my trip was visiting the
profusion of women's bookstores and
businesses. This column will not be
about books — it's a travel piece,
my readers in this radical departure from
my usual column.

The centre of lesbian activity in San
Francisco is Valencia Street, in the Mis-
sion District between 16th and 23rd
Streets. Walking down from 23rd, the
first sign of activity is the Artemis Cafe.
The food is tasty and wholesome. The
cafe caters to the veggie and dessert
crowd, and the service is unusually
pleasant. (Why does being politically
correct mean never having to say
"you're welcome"?)

After dessert, I made my way to the
legendary Old Wives Tales. This incred-
ibly huge store houses practically every
woman's book in print, as well as
periodicals and posters and lots of
T-shirts, bags, hankies and gifts im-
printed with women's or lesbian sym-
bols. While the woman at the counter
patiently searched for a souvenir book-
mark for me (it was her first day on the
job), I wandered around the upstairs
lounge and found an armful of publica-
tions, such as Poetry Flash and Fiction
Monthly (tabloids of reviews and news

of local literary events) and Coming Up
(a local gay/lesbian paper) and al\free\
The lounge is a storehouse of informa-
tion on alternative organizations in the
Bay area — a real find for someone new
in town.

Braving the traffic, I crossed over to
Modern Times. There is a rather serene
quality to this bookstore, which carries
socialist as well as feminist literature.
The space is filled with casual clutter,
and the conversations made me wonder
if I had stumbled into a left-wing drop-
in centre. Their women's section beats
most I've seen hands down.

Further down the street is Osento, a
women's bathhouse. As I paced back
and forth outside the door, I wondered
if "bathhouse" means the same thing in
San Francisco as it does in Toronto. Did
other women go in there specifically
to... you know, or just for a hot tub?
Could I? Dare I go in? No, the memory
of my cowardly self slinking away from
the door will haunt me, but in truth, I
was too chicken to step inside.

Down the street, I peeked in the win-
dow of the Valencia Rose, a cafe and
cabaret, housed in a stunning vulva-pink
building that was once a mortuary. Then
on to the San Francisco Women's Build-
ing, a huge old Spanish-style building
that, when I went in, was packed with
women of every age and description.
The lobby contained its share of free-
bies: local arts papers and Mission Dis-
trict news magazines. One could be des-
titute in this city and still read for days!

On the last day of my trip, I braved
BART — not a person, but the Bay Area
Rapid Transit system — to travel to
Oakland to visit A Woman's Place.
Again, I was impressed by the sheer
dimensions of this bookstore; they had
saved a corner for their selection of
bumper stickers and buttons. Like most
of the stores mentioned here, A
Woman's Place has a full schedule of
readings (the writers in the anthology
New Lesbian Writing, eidted by Mar-
garet Cruikshank, were next on the sche-
dule) plus other social events for cus-
tomers and volunteer staff. The book-
shop's activities help to bring the com-
munity together.

There were other treats too. Like get-
ting lost on the way to the bathroom at
the Pacific Arts and Letters Small Press
Fair, and stumbling upon a display case
of artifacts of Bay-area lesbian life from
the Gold Rush to the present, complete
with Daughters of Bilitis conference pro-
grammes and posters of nineteenth cen-
tury women passing as men. I drank cof-
fee with very special women whose work
1 admire and respect; Iparticipated in the
morning coffee-and-conversation ritual
with a group of Berkeley artists on the
steps of a downtown church. A friend
turning me on to the greatest chocolate
truffles in the history of the world, more
an orgiastic explosion of chocolate than
a mere bonbon. The Bay area so im-
pressed me the 1 couldn'rc resist step-
ping out of my book-critic shoes to
speak of my love of the city. San Fran-
cisco is truly home base of much of the
lesbian energy and talent that is regularly
celebrated in this space. And yes, I left
my heart.. ..D

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Whether you've come for
dinner in our coxy
restaurant, a game of
pool in the upstairs bar,
or to dance the night
away on one of our two
dance floors, you'll find
what you're
looking for . . .

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Unisex Hair Design

HAIR
GALAXY

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Complete Hair Care

Hours: 3 pm - 1 am, Mon - Fri; 12 noon - 1 am, Sat & Sun

THE RESTAURANT:

Savory home cooking
awaits you. Brunch is
now being served every
Sunday from 12 to 3 and
only costs $7 tor 2
Following brunch there's
live entertainment in the
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THE FRONT BAR:

After dinner come out front and
dance the night away — DJs John
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hottest music in town. Every second
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THE POOL ROOM:
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THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY/AUGUST 1984 I 41

METROPOLITAN

COMMUNITY

CHURCH

730 Bathurst Street

Toronto Ontario

M5S2R4

(416)536-2848
Rev Brent Hawkes, B Sc, B Ed, Pastor

An Ecumenical Christian Church for all people
with a special ministry to the Cay community

-I

What we believe

FAITH

Now faith is the assurance of

things hoped for, the

conviction of things not

seen.... For whoever would

draw near to Cod must believe

that Cod exists.... Hebrews im.6

HOPE

...a spirit of wisdom and of

revelation in the knowledge of

Cod, having the eyes of your

hearts enlightened, that you

may know what is the hope to

which Cod has called

VOU....EPIIESIANS 1:17-18

LOVE

Love is patient and

kind... rejoices in the

right... bears all things, believes

all things, hopes all things,
endures all things. ..never ends.

1 CORINTHIANS 13:4. 68

So faith, hope, love abide,
these three; but the greatest of
these is love. i (orinthiass m n

Weekly
Worship Services

Wednesday

at 7:30 pm

Sunday

at 11:00 am & 7:30 pm

VVtih StnRspiration IS minutes before services

Sunday Sc hool i> provirtifl
every Surutov <»rn sefvice

Amplihcihon for ihe hearing imiMin-rl

Wheelchair ,i< < essibilir)

On Ihe lirsl anri lay Sunday <* each monlh
both worship •*-*% k es will be vgnecl tor the ileal

Instrumental Ensemble*

Tuesday at 6:30 pm

Choir*

Thursday at 7:00 pm

"Church membership is not

required for participation in

these groups.

Robert A.
Brosius

CHARTERED
ACCOUNTANT

Tax and Accounting Services

922-6949

In Cabbagetown
Parliament & Wellesley

P.O. Box 158. Station A
Toronto M5W 1B2

Real Estate

call

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Offering personal real esfate
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Overly large 3-bedroom townhouse. $139,900.
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CLASSIFIEDS

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ROOMS FOR RENT, large, sunny, share facilities.
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BEACHES TOWNHOUSE. Responsible male share
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SOUTHERN ONTARIO ~
COTTAGE FOR SALE

Beautiful Georgian Bay waterfront property (80'
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open year round. Private sale. Call afternoons: (519)
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OTTAWA

I have a house to share with a non-smoking person.
3-plus bedrooms, living, dining, large kitchen, five
appliances. Yard for sunning and BBQing. Quiet
neighbourhood — Charlotte at Clarence St.
$390/month. August 1st. 235-0377. Michael.

SERVICES

NATIONAL

TANTRlC MEDITATION SERVICES. Box 44,
Oakville MB R0H 0Y0. Please write. Replies in
English, direct from India.

TORONTO

COUNSELLING

Individuals, couples and families. More than a decade
of experience. Rosemary Cozens, MA and Lindsay
Cobb MA, 484-6456.

cnv j
wirc J*
maiD"*

S6MGE f

Cleaning
for your h
at rates y

Toronto

■ Professionally

W\ Trained

jw Bonded

& Supervised

personnel

ome or apartment

ou can afford.

363-6231

Moving and Storage

Local and long distance

Acme Moving & Storage

(416)751-9124

Member Allied Van Lines

SJfti

Piano Tuning & Repair

Pianos are sensitive beasts:

StATS^l

all that iron and wood to

the contrary. 'The change of
humidity in the spring is

^~^T7^TW I

especially hard on them.

^^S.jr^'

Call me.

■

lames Tennv*on

Certified Piano Technician

335 Markham St, Toronto

1 ^--^*0<^WiP

967-6653

EXPERIENCED THERAPIST available to individ-
uals/couples for interpersonal and psychosexual diffi-
culties. Please leave message at 535-9818. Bill San-
ders, MSW, Certified Sexual Therapist.

MASSAGE FOR HEALTH done by proressional
massage therapist. Mr Fung. By appointment only.
465-9810.

SOLSTICE. GAY ASTROLOGICAL and tarot con-
sultations. 463-9688.

CANADIAN MALE SEEKS Caucasian or Chinese
Cantonese-speaker as tutor. Ability to read and write
characters essential. Patience, sense of humour an
asset. Drawer E46I.

VIDEO SERVICES— affordable taping of talent
resumes, singers, musicians, artists, fashion, special
occasions. Let's talk, afternoons and evenings.
979-9716.

ARTIST WILL CREATE realistic drawings of your
favourite picture or photo, that you will treasure for
many years, or can give as a gift. Any theme, erotic,
etc. Or will create something to your liking. Call Paul
at 653-6313.

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER

PORTRAITS of you and /or your lover, nudes, port-
folios, fashion, art copy work, and other assign-
ments. Photographed on location. Inquiries: Clive
Pyne Photography, 694-5335.

LL's Painting & Decorating

Wallpapering & repairs

Louis Leveille 461-9940

10 Hogarth Ave - Apt 1408
Toronto Ont M4K 1J9

planning research & design consultant

GORDON K.STONE

B. Architecture

P O Box 424. Station F

Toronto. Ontario M4Y 2L8

(416)924-9061

OTTAWA

CERAMIC ART CLASSES with a difference. Call
Paul at 829-9812.

WORK

WORK WITH ME

HOME BUSINESS for everyone and anywhere in
Canada and USA. No investment. Good income,
vacations plus free car. For information please write
to; List, Box 5982, Stn A, Toronto ONT M5W 1P4.

BUDDY'S, Toronto gay bar, is looking for a positive
problem-solving people-and-profit-oriented profes-
sional to assume its management. Applicants with
resumes please call Randi at (416) 598-3040 for an
interview.

WANTED: Go-go dancers with good physiques and
looks for special shows in Toronto bars. Also ex-
perienced bartender. Excellent wages and good work-
ing conditions. Call Owen for audition and interview
at 598-3039 between 10:30 am and 5:30 pm.

MESSAGES

HEALTH QUESTIONS? PROBLEM with relation-
ships? Write "This Ain't Ann Landers," Box 7289, Stn
A, Toronto ON MSW 1X9. Anonymous if you wish.

WILL CHRIS FOX or anyone knowing her where-
abouts please contact Marion Foster at 39 MacDon-
ald Street, Toronto, ON M8V 1Y3.

BOOKS

MALE HOMOSEXUALITY IN LITERATURE.
Paths Untrodden Book Service, PO Box 459, Village
Station, New York, NY 10014-0459. Catalogue
$2.00 US

VOLUNTEERS

ORGANIZATIONS seeking volunteers can find
them in The Body Politic classifieds. Advertise for
volunteer help and get a 50% discount Off our regular
reasonable rates.

LESBIANS AND GAY MEN wanted for peer coun-
selling and information phoneline. Should possess a
mature attitude, common sense and empathy. Phone
TAG at 964-6600.

GROUPS

GAY OUTDOORS CLUB

OTTAWA AND AREA. A new club is forming for
gay people interested in the outdoors. If you would be
interested in joining others for camping weekends,
hiking, canoeing, cycling, skiing, etc, now's your
chance to get in at the beginning. If you are interested
in finding out more write to Out and Out Toronto,
Box 331, Stn F, Toronto ON M4Y 2L7.

FIND WRESTLING PARTNERS in Canada and US
Northwest. Join NW Wrestling Directory. Free. Box
1864, Stn A, Kelowna, BC V1Y 8M3.

42 □ THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY /AUGUST 1984

NORTH AMERICAN Man/Boy Love Association.
For further information send $1.00 US to:
NAMBLA, Box 174, New York, NY 10018.

GAY INVESTMENT GROUP FORMING

A new informal gay investment group forming this
fall. Learn about the stock market and meet new
friends. Send details about yourself and occupation
together with your home phone number. Limited
membership. Drawer E502.

OTHER

GAY COURTWATCH. General court information,
lawyer referrals, crisis referrals, support services. If
you have been arrested or need assistance with the
court system leave a message at room 337, Old City
Hall or call 362-6928 or 961-8046. We are here to help
you.

SEXUAL REJUVENATION male and female. Safe
herbal remedial. Fully guaranteed. $14.00 cheque or
money order. Mankind, Box 1160, Stn F, Toronto,
ON M4T 278.

GAY IN THE SUBURBS? Want to talk? Gay Alli-
ance at York planning symposium in the fall. Inter-
ested? Contact G.A.Y., York University, 4700 Keele
St, Downsview ON M3J 1P3.

QUIT SMOKING EASY WAY cut down or stop now.
Safe herbal remedial. Fully guaranteed. $14.00. Man-
kind, Box 1160, Stn F, Toronto, ON M4T 278,
Canada.

TRAVEL

BOSTON'S ALL-GAY place to stay. Two renovated
back bay town houses, continental breakfast, cock-
tail setups, minute's walk to historic sites and night
life, private /shared bath. $25-$45. Oasis, 22 Edgerly
Rd, Boston, MA 02115. 617-267-2262.

BED AND BREAKFAST in private gay homes. San
Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego or Texas. Details:
BayHosts, 1155 Bosworth, San Francisco CA 941 31.
Tel: 415-334-7262.

NOVA SCOTIA: Lovett Lodge Inn. Victorian anti-
ques, alpine. Near St John — Digby Ferry. Brochure:
PO Box 119, Bear River, NS BOS 1 B0. 1-902-467-3917.

A HOME AWAY FROM HOME. Cabbagetown
lodging house and efficiencies. 300 Wellesley St. E. at
Parliament. For information call Bill or Allen,
961-9320.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Spend a pleasant vacation at the

LAUDERDALE MANOR 300 ft. from our

beautiful beach. Party at the world-famous

Marlin Beach Hotel next door and come

back to a quiet and friendly atmosphere.

Modestly priced hotel rooms, efficiencies

and apartments with color TV. New pool in

our tropical garden and BBQ. Call or write

Lauderdale Manor Motel, 2926 Valencia St.

fort Lauderdale, Fla 33316

Tel: (305) 463-3385

GUEST
HOUSE

—>

Carls

ptbvincetov/n

Center of Town

April thru October

Clean, confortable, inexpensive

Carl, your host

68 Bradford St
Provincetown MA 02657

(617)487-1650

Guesthouse & Tavern

Newer and better.
Check us out!

18 Eastern Avenue
TorontoONM5A1H5

(416)368-4040

THE INN 2 VILLAGE SQUARE

OGUNQUIT. Spacious, Victorian guesthouse
overlooking the town. Oceanview, sundeck, con-
tinental breakfast, walking distance to beach, clubs,
restaurants. Relax with friends. PO Box 864, Ogun-
quit, Maine 03907. (207) 646-5779.

Friendly places to stay . . . Miles
of beaches . . . Great restaurants
. . . Lots of entertainment and
dancing . . . Variety of shops
and galleries . . .
Write for free directory
Provincetown
Business Guild
Box 421 Dept. R
/f Provincetown, MA 02657
* .- Call (617) 487-2313

ROVINCETOWN

Enjoy It With Us!

MODELS/ESCORTS

EDMONTON. Hunky male escort, 31, 6' 180 lbs,
hairy, prefer out-of-town hotel registered guest.
Write Drawer E060.

TORONTO ~

HANDSOME, COMPETITIVE BODYBUILDER
available for modelling. Big, blond and beautiful.
Call 927-0558.

"HOT", CUTE ITALIAN, 5'7" 150 lbs, into
bodybuilding. Slender, youthful, good-looking, ac-
tor, model, escort. Call "Angelo" anytime. Absolute
discretion assured. 363-3417.

"GENTLEMEN'S GENTLEMEN" — Two clean-
cut good-looking males, 19 and 22, available for per-
sonal escort /model services. 922-2089.

BRIGHT, ATTRACTIVE STUDENT (21), discreet
and versatile, seeks position as personal escort . Steve:
961-4680.

GAY WHITE MALE, 19, slim, athletic, available for
escort and modelling. I have three years experience as
an escort/model. For discreet consultation call Dave:
927-9974.

FIRST CHOICE — Attractive, black 35 and blond,
blue-blue eyes (white), 24, available for personal
escort /model service. Single or together. Minimum
$50. Single. 977-1155.

TORONTO ESCORTS & MODELS
FULFILL YOUR FANTASIES. Lean muscular 26,
5'11" 170 lbs, masculine, clean cut man available as
escort and/or model. Call Rick: 653-2115.

GUYS 'n' GALS

From Burt Reynolds

to Elvis Costellos,

from Dolly Partons

toTwiggys.

All types of models available.

Call (416) 461-6676

PRISONERS

A NOTE to prisoners who wish to have pen pals —
Metropolitan Community Church is offering a pen-
pal service to men and women prisoners through the
church's prison ministry. Prison Ministry, 730 Bath-
urst St, Toronto, ON M5S 2R4.

GAYS AND YOUNG PRISONERS threatened with
sexual exploitation, in institutions everywhere, bene-
fit from the work of The Prometheus Foundation,
which also protects gays in society from rip-offs by
unscrupulous inmates. For information on the Pen
Pal Group and other vital programmes, and a copy of
FIRE!, the Foundation's newsletter, send SASE to:
Prometheus, Box 12954, Pittsburgh, PA 15241.

BLACK INMATE doing time in this red-neck county
of Oklahoma. In need of a friend who will help me
through these rough times I'm facing; and late at
night. Into all kinds of music, opera, and the stage; I
play guitar and piano. I'm so lonely — please answer
my plea. From NYC, planning to move to Canada
after I'm discharged. I'm open-minded, are you?
Bobby Ross 133616, PO Box 97, OSP, McAlester OK
74501.

1 AM A 21-YEAR-OLD white male serving a 3-year
sentence, soon to be released. In search of a true
friend, relationship, love, and happiness with an
older, serious-minded gay who I can be with upon my
release. I am 5'9" 139 lbs, blond hair and blue eyes.
Tommy Howard Gilbreath, PO Box 97-90673,
McAlester OK 74502.

I WOULD LIKE to hear from all gay males and
(ransvestitcs/ transsexuals. I will write to all who write
to me I look forward to hearing from you. Harry
Langert 82A0167, Box 618, Auburn NY 13201.

KINKY? Any wild hunks out there that enjoy being
kinky and having someone special to share your
wildest thoughts and desires with? I'm 23, 5'9" 160
lbs, dark brown hair, green eyes, getting out in 85. En-
joy hearing from ali, especially if as above. Will
answer all. Kenny Nuckels 128220, PO Box 97,
McAlester OK 74501.

PAUL T.WILLIS,

1>. A.., LL.B.

BARRISTER AND SOLICITOR
NOTARY PUBLIC

For the General
Practice of Law

Day or evening
appointments available

1240 Bay Street (at Bloor), Suite 307
Toronto, Ontario M5R 2A7

Office (416) 923-2601
Residence (416) 961-7963

O

Robert G. Coates

B. Sc., LL. B.
Barrister & Solicitor

70 Dundas Street East

Toronto, Ontario M5B 1C7

598-4922

THE ACCOUNTING CLINIC =^-*

368 DUNDAS STREET EAST
TORONTO, ONTARIO M5A 2A3
(416)927-1702

• •

Ask for Don McCurdy

The Rhinos were invited uptown to tea It
was a very hot day— their suits fit a little
too snugly— and both had forgotten the correct
way to eat asparagus Dauntlessly. they
presented their card.

rA**%

Calling cards arc a charming old form of introduction. Different

from business cards they're' just friendly and invite no trade Ol

commerce. Presented in social situations, you're bound to be

remembered even when you're not feeling your mosl memorable.

CALLINC CARlfS - A Tvrrific Present

RHENO

i \ < o i< |» o k \ i K i)
428 Dundas Street East

(Dundas and Parliament)
Happily sharing space with Altitude Bakers and Rites Maga/me

925-8377
T\ i»t*M*ttiiiK for I lie rominuitit} nilh humour and *kill

THE BODY POLITIC LI JULY /AUGUST 1984 □ 43

THE BARN

TORONTO

LEATHER & WESTERN BAR
83 GRANBY STREET

(CORNER OF CHURCH)

416-977-4684

A PLACE TO MEET FRIENDS

CRUISING • PINBALL • JUKE BOX

MONDAY ■ SATURDAY 8 PM — 1 AM
SUNDAY 5 PM — 11 PM

Enjoy

Relaxing Music

at the Piano Bar and

Elegant Dining

in the Restaurant

Vloml.iv In Fruldv
12 00 - 1 00 p.m.

Saturday
5:00 - I 00 p m.

400 - II 00 p m
Sunday Brunch 54.95

%t& Catoalier*

418 Church • 977-4702

9 Isabella St., Tor onto, Canada

(416)921-3012

44 D THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY /AUGUST 1984

LEFT BANK BOOKS sponsors a Books For Prisoners
project. Through donations and a postage grant we are
able to send free miscellaneous books to inmates every-
where, (provided an institution allows them). We offer
special order books at cost (usually 35-40% off). Pris-
oners and other interested persons should write: Books
For Prisoners, Box A, 92 Pike St, Seattle, WA 98101.

TRANSSEXUAL 23. Have you been fooled by the
rest? Well try the best. I'm tall, 160 lbs, green eyes and
brown hair. I'm a loving girl that is petite and very
pretty. I want a man that can and will take care of me
while I'm going through these hard times. I love to
take care of my man in all ways. Only sincere men
need bother to reply. Send a SASE to Rae " Rachelle"
Arment, PO Box 777, Monroe WA 98272.

FRIENDS: FEMALE

INTERNATIONAL

GAY WOMEN WRITE/meet everywhere! through
The Wishing Well Magazine Program. Confidential
(Code Numbers used), supportive, dignified, prompt.
Ten years' reliable reputation. Tender, loving alterna-
tive. Introductory copy US$5 (mailed discreetly first
class). Canadian women especially welcome! Free in-
formation: Box 117, Novato, CA 94948-0117.

WOMAN, USA CITIZEN (straight or gay) sought
for marriage of mutual benefit by Canadian gay male.
Drawer E426.

TORONTO

WILD WOMEN IN SEARCH OF THE BIG "O"?
Do you rush to your mailbox every day looking for an
invitation to your first (or latest) orgy? Drop us a let-
ter (detailed and juicy) to say why you should be in-
vited to ours. And who knows what the post may
bring tomorrow? Drawer D723.

SINCERE FRIENDSHIP OR MORE

A YOUNG, COLLEGE gay male is seeking a gay or
bisexual female for friendship. I am masculine in ap-
pearance, 20, 5'7" 130 lbs, dark hair, brown eyes. My
interests include theatre, dancing, dining out and
cooking at home. This relationship could satisfy our
mutual social and family obligations, possibly mar-
riage. Drawer E403.

PETERBOROUGH

LESBIAN looking for others in Peterborough. Take
a moment and write. I need to hear from you. Drawer
E501.

NEW BRUNSWICK

27-YEAR-OLD female professional; love reading,
music. Need lots of affection. Very monogamous.
Looking for gay female friends or a companion in
Fredericton area. Drawer E450.

FRIENDS MALE

INTERNATIONAL

TO BE FRIEND AND LOVER. Bearded, 38, 6' 180
lbs, Levis-type, F/A, G/P, smoker, music-lover, un-
conventional life, lots of affection, looking for some-
one to love. Anywhere. Alive. Franz Schubert, Box
1430, Succ Desjardins, Montreal PQ HSB 1H3.

HORNY, HOT correspondence of all kinds wanted
from anywhere. J / O — washroom sex, curious about
W/S. Try me in your first letter. Drawer E291.

I LI VE IN POLAND, in Warsaw. My name is Marek
Wyloga. I'm 23 years old. I'm interested in gays in
Canada. I'm interested in theatre, opera, cinema,
music and tourism. I would like to correspond with
gays from Canada. I know English language. Marek
Wyloga, UL. Stalowa 12m. 7, 05-800 Pruzkow,
Poland.

NATIONAL

BARE NAKED HORNY stud wants to hear from
other guys into cocksucking, W/S, chicken,
whatever. Let me strut my stuff for you. Revealing
photo a must for reply. Drawer E513

JO BUDDIES WANTED with big balls and cock. If
you enjoy JO, talking dirty, phone calls, fantasies, big
balls, bare feet, write now. Am 37, attractive. Drawer
E271.

YOUNG GWM, MASCULINE, sexually versatile, to
relocate for relationship with GWM, 50, in great
shape. Reliable, sober, honest type only. Photo, full
details please. Henry. PO Box 6864, Stn A, Saint
John, NB E2L 4S3.

25 AND JUST COMING OUT. Into voyeurism and
exhibitionism, would like nude photo exchange with
young college jocks, wrestlers and others. Drawer
E101.

NOVICE SLAVE

25, 5'l 1" 1 60 lbs seeks master(s) anywhere in Canada
who know(s) how to put a slave through his paces.
S/M, B/D, W/S. I travel widely with my work in all
areas of Canada but Maritimes, so I will be in your
area sometime Sir! Drawer E453.

23 YEAR OLD GWM, 6' 1 " 1 55 lbs, brown hair and
eyes, looking for guys to 27 for long-lasting intimate
relationship. Prefer beardless and slim. Currently
working professionally, but will relocate for right per-
son. Write Box 1208, Thompson MB RUN I PI.

BRITISH COLUMBIA"

VICTORIA BI GUY 28, tall, good-looking, well-
built, wishes to meet other masculine guys for casual
friendship and occasional sex. Absolute discretion
guaranteed. PO Box 480, Saanichton, B( VOS I M0

YOU'VE TRIED THE BARS. You've tried the
balhs. Now try the alternative. Mccl by mail —
guaranteed non-smoky and youdon'i have to ita) up
late cither. Jusl use the form at righi. Easy, ch?

WELCOME TO TBP CLASSIFIEDS

Gay people out to meet other gay people, right across Canada and beyond our borders too.

COST

Just 35<p per word, minimum charge $7.00. Business ads: 70$ per word, minimum charge $14.00, or call
364-6320 for reasonable display advertising rates.

YOU CAN SAVE IF YOU SUBSCRIBE

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YOU CAN SAVE IF YOU REPEAT YOUR AD

Our discount system: 15% off for 2 runs, 20% off for 3 to 4 runs, 25% off for 5 to9 runs, and 30% for 10 runs or
more.

CONDITIONS

All ads should be fully prepaid by cheque, money orderor charge card, and mailed to arrive before the adver-
tised deadline. Late ads will be held over for the following issue, unless you instruct otherwise.

We cannot accept ads over the telephone.

If you do not wish to print your address or phone number, you can request a drawer number. We will for-
ward replies to you twice a week in a plain envelope. This service costs $4.00 per ad per issue.

Replies to your drawer cannot be picked up at our office.

Gay sex is still illegal if either or both parties are under21, or if more than 2 people are involved, regardless
of their ages. Please word your ad accordingly. We reserve the right to alter or refuse any ad.

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about yourself, not insulting to others. We will edit out phrases like "no blacks" or "no fats or ferns."

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TBP CLASSIFIEDS
Box 7289, Station A
Toronto. ON M5W 1X9

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SPECIAL HEADINGS

Choose one of the headings above,
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For just $5.00, you get up to 30
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your ad. Here are a few examples:

MEET ME INST LOUIS

OR EVEN DOWNTOWN Toronto would do. I'm
looking for the great-looking guy in the Speedo
bathing suit who ran out of Chaps last Wednesday.
Call me at 591-7693.

AFFECTIONATE GUY SEEKS SAME
I ' M LOOKI NG FOR a man who'll give me all the lov-
ing I need, and who can take all the loving I have to
give. Write Drawer DXXX.

Even better: STANDOUT!
Up to 20 characters for just $10.00!
Check out these examples to see
how your ad would look:

HOT BUNS, EAGER LIPS

GWM, 36, 5' 10" 155 lbs, would like to service you in
every way possible. Have great ass and great techni-
que. Drawer EXXX.

CABBAGETOWN APT

MAN HAS APT TO SHARE in quiet section of Cab-
bagetown near TTC and shopping. AH utilities, own
room, non-smoker. $300/month. Call 666-3223.

And for tops in attention-getting:

GRABBER!

An extra $15.00 over the basic cost

of your ad buys you up to 15 charact

ers that will spotlight your message.

Check out these examples:

SLAVE WANTED

MASTER. 39, MERCILESS, seeks slave who is will-
ing to surrender his all. Limits respected. Drawer
DYYY.

CAR FOR SALE

1 980 RABBIT, good condition, blue, jusl driven oc-
casionally tothebar\,asking$5,000orbcst oflcr ( .ill
James, 944-3214.

Write the text of your ad below, one word per box.

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THL BODY POLITIC D JULY/ AH. I SI 19S4 45

THE HITCH-N-POST

529 Yonge Street

is

NOW OPEN!

Fulh Licensed

Come out and party with us

and see Yonge Street . . .

and they can't see you!

Check out our "Happy Hour" prices!

TORONTO

925-9998

Canada's oldest penpal club
for gay men.

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Sask S7K 3S9

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Leathers

Box 161, Agincourt

(Toronto), Ontario, Canada

M1S3B6

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921-1035

VANCOUVER, VICTORIA, Okanagan area slaves
wanted. You must be docile, submissive, athletic,
muscular and clean. Master visiting areas July/Aug.
Send recent photo. Drawer E404.

ALBERTA ~~

28, GWM, just coming out in Fort McMurray. In-
terested in music, camping and boating seeks friends
21-35. Drawer E476.

CALGARY ~

GENEROUS CALGARY EXECUTIVE 43 interest-
ed in regular meetings with intelligent man. Drawer
E429.

RECOMBINANT DNA is one of my interests. (In
fact it's my job.) I am a 29-year-old, 5' 10" 150 lb
blond, attractive, out-of-the-closet gay man. Inter-
ests include music, computers, touching, enzymes,
politics, movies, hiking, intimacy. I am looking for in-
telligent, serious-minded, happy friends 20-35 in Cal-
gary. Scientific background appreciated but not
essential. Sense of humour necessary. Drawer E410.

GAY WHITE MALE, PASSIVE, 40, 150 lbs, 5'6'\
would like to meet dominant gay males, well-hung,
very active in greek, bondage, gang-bangs. Only let-
ters with photo will be answered. Calgary area only.
Drawer E466.

EDMONTON

GWM, 6' 1 " 165 lbs, blue eyes, brown hair, young 36,
fit, moderately hairy. Clean-cut, positive, quiet, af-
fectionate. Computer programmer, own townhouse.
Nature lover, non-smoker. Like good conversation,
backpacking, photography, cycling, science fiction,
folk music. Looking for committed relationship with
non-macho male. Younger unhairy preferred, not
essential. Your clear photo gets mine. Everyone ans-
wered. Discretion assured, expected. Bill, Box 42,
Sub-PO 11, Edmonton T6G 2E0.

ORGY WORKOUTS
21 GWM ARRANGES GROUP SEX for GWM's
21-50, married, bi or straight. Hot raunch scenes.
Photo and sexual preference desirable. Drawer E381 .

ATTRACTIVE GWM, university student, 22, seeks
educated male for possible relationship. 20-30 pre-
ferred, no kinks. Varied interests, social activities,
must be out of the closet! Send particulars and phone
number to Drawer E447.

ONTARIO

CYCLING & SWIMMING HOLIDAY

1-2 WEEKS, July/August. Hairy chested, moustache
guy, 36, 5' 10" 170 lbs, seeks companion for tour
around Ontario lakes. Must be well-built and physi-
cally fit. Drawer E455.

NORTHERN ONTARIO ~

THUNDER BAY: You are under 30, straight appear-
ance, enjoy the occasional night out for supper,
show, lounge. I enjoy conversation with knowledge-
able younger set over drinks in quiet setting. What
comes later depends upon you, but you will not be dis-
appointed. Write soon. Tell me about yourself. Photo
appreciated. Drawer E463.

WANTED, military 17-30 bi or gay 130-165 lb
masculine Caucasian for 185 lb 6 ft tall blond military
in 20s, fit. Angus Baseborden area. Discretion ab-
solute. Box 873, Barrie ON L4M 4Y4.

TORONTO

HANDSOME BI J /O STUD seeks action with other
hot men. Am 29, 6' 165 lbs, moustache. Photo a must
before meeting! Travel frequently — can accom-
modate buddies. If you want the best, then go for it!
Drawer E049.

GWM, 35, 5'10" 175 lbs, brown hair, reddish body
hair, muscular build, masculine, easy-going country
type, very horny, well hung. Enjoy quiet times, music,
little drink and smoke, mutual JO. Seek straight-
looking easy-going younger male or couples for good
times, have country home. Let's hear from guys in
central and eastern Ontario. Can travel. Photo and
phone appreciated. Hope to hear from you soon.
Drawer E001.

NUDE PHOTOS OF YOURSELF?

Head shots, nudes, negatives returned. Phone studio
532-4380. Inquiries welcome, inexpensive.

LOOKING FOR well-hung, active black guy to 35
years. I am 48, 5' 11 " 1 70 lbs, generous and financially
secure. Drawer E454.

ATTRACTIVE masculine male, 27, seeks masculine
attractive male under 25, with jeans and black leather
jacket to have fun and jerk me off slowly. 1 love to,
cuddle. Photo and phone. Drawer E456.

BM, 34, 6'2" 185 lbs, wants hung married G/active
W/M able to go more than one round. 22/40 wants
just satisfaction. Drawer E458.

SLEEK, SWIFT and spirited runner seeks training
partner who runs a mean lOkms. I'm29,6'2" 165 lbs,
straight-acting, health conscious and full of life. Let-
ter and phone much appreciated. Drawer E459.

CHARMING, MASCULINE and slim Oriental
male, early 20s, looking for masculine or hairy guys,
under or to 40, to share good things in life together.
Phone and photo appreciated. Drawer E444.

BLACK MALE WANTED

TALL, HANDSOME, well-built white male who is
shy, sensitive and athletic but also lonely would like to
meet slim, strong, Greek active black male who en-
joys the good life. I travel a great deal by myself and
need a sincere, loving companion. Photo, phone with
reply appreciated. Box 2647, Stn F, Scarboro ON
M1W2TI.

YOUNG SLAVE wants well-to-do men with equip-
ment for morning sex. Love leather, bondage and
more. Rush. Phone. Drawer E445.

46 □ THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY /AUGUST 1984

OBEDIENT, submissive male forty, warm open
mouth, firm yielding buns, eager to serve any bizarre
instructions, can wear stockings, etc. Seeks men over
fifty for regular daytime sessions. Discreet, photo ap-
preciated. Drawer E442.

BISEXUAL MAN, 45, seeks same to age 25. Must be
intelligent, well built and interested in buddy type re-
lationship. Prefer muscles to pretty face. Drawer
E443.

HOT AND CLEAN buns would like to please you.
Love finger play, cock fucking and hot dogs. Discre-
tion expected. Please write with phone. Drawer E446.

VERY ATTRACTIVE GWM, 28, into body-build-
ing, very nice body, dark hair, blue eyes, 5'9" 155 lbs,
looking for under 30, prefer tall blond guy with good
body but will answer all. Like dancing and sex. Pic-
ture, phone, fast replies. Go ahead, I'm horny.
Drawer E448.

PROFESSIONAL MALE new to Toronto. 6'3" 210
lbs, losing, 30. Not into bars but enjoys life. Take a
chance. Photo, phone. Drawer E449.

I AM THE "G" IN GREAT-GAY-GUY

SPOTLESSLY PRESENTED, straight-looking, ef-
fervescent, likeable; seeking suitable complement to
suntan and chum around with. Well-behaved, desert
loving. Paul 922-8484.

AFFECTIONATE, CARING businessman, 36, 6',
husky, seeks younger, sincere male for friendship or
relationship. I enjoy music, theatre, films, long
walks, quiet dinners, socializing and getting to know
people. Drawer E43I.

SPECIAL BLACK FRIEND WANTED

BLACK INTELLIGENT HORNY male sought as
buddy by GWM early 50s for sincere, honest friend-
ship/relationship. Mutual affection, caring. Not into
beauty contest. Drawer E425.

BODYBUILDER 30, 5'11" 185 lbs, A 16 1/2, W32,
seeks same for muscle love. I'll bring the baby oil.
Photo appreciated. Drawer E421.

TOPMAN WANTS a slim Toronto Bottom

With buns round and firm — preferably tite

Hey shy fellah if you think you got 'em

Do I have a pillow you oughta bite

I'm denimed, beefy, relaxed and fun

Mid-aged and masculine I can cuddle all nite

Both firm and manly my loving does run

A drug free Bottom is a Topman's delite

Drawer E41 8.

READY FOR CHANGE from habits and bar condi-
tioning. Haunted by passing time, life cycles, system
cycles and reasons why. Believe in laughing daily, cry-
ing occasionally, and pulling own strings. I value
health, honesty, friendships, security, affection. En-
joy arts, science, fitness and physical contact. No ex-
tremes. No addictions. 36, 5' 10" 145 lbs, fair. Just
trying to meet a mature, handsome, compatible,
quality man! Drawer E414.

PROFESSIONAL MALE, 26, 5'6" 125 lbs, Orien-
tal, good-looking, friendly, enjoys dining out,
theatre, traveling, working out. Would like to meet a
compatible man for friendship/relationship. Photo
and phone appreciated. Drawer E472.

GREASED HAIR BEARDED WRESTLER
TOP, 37, 6' 170 lbs, seeks tough young punk into
serious s/m. Photo/phone a must. No hustlers.
Drawer E512.

HORNY GWM, 30, 5'6" 125 lbs, 36" chest, 29"
waist, seeks similarly slim men for hot, sweaty
daytime sessions. Phone, photo and/or
measurements, 23 to 33. Drawer E488.

SINCERE MALE SEEKS OTHER MALES

ORIENTAL, 23, new to gay scene. Looking for new
friends and possible relationship. Send phone and
photo if possible. Drawer E489.

SUBMISSIVE GWM, handsome, intelligent,
masculine. Seeks handsome, intelligent, masculine
leather/denim master. Strip, shave and collar me.
Dominate and humiliate me. Am not a transvestite
but find feminine lingerie and /or french maid
uniform to be a humiliating turn-on. Please reply with
photo and phone. Drawer E490.

GWM, 37, 5'9" 145 lbs, professional. Enjoys hobby-
farming, cycling, art, travel, restauranteering and one
who knows the value of following: "To experience
the full joy of life, you must find someone to share it
with." All letters answered. Photo, phone, if conven-
ient. Drawer E491.

PASSIONATE, eccentric, serious, introverted, ex-
istentialist, Nietszchean, opera fanatic, seeks similar
GWM for meeting of bodies, minds, souls. Drawer
E492.

GWM, 45, professional, 5'10" 158 lbs. Nipple freak
seeks same to 50 for friendship and fun — married
men welcome, discretion assured. Drawer E493.

YOUNG, MASCULINE, sincere friend to age 25
sought by 38 year old guy who hates bars and discos. I
love travel and I'm looking for a buddy to knock
around Ontario and Quebec on summer weekends.
I'm not into the gay scene and enjoy quiet evenings at
home. Looks unimportant. I'm not prejudiced, any
nationality welcome, student or worker. Photo and
phone appreciated. Drawer E494.

ATTRACTIVE, HEALTHY GWM

33,6' 1 50 lbs, brown hair, blue eyes, moustache, seeks
bright, trim well-hung man (who is immune to
hepatitis and into quiet times and wild times) for a
mutually satisfying emotional and sexual relation-
ship. Drawer E498.

GUY, 23, GOOD LOOKS. 5'9" 140 lbs, oriental,
seeks you if you're under 35 and have good looks, a
good heart and a lit 1 1c bit upstairs. I like poetry,
history, fashion, slow romance, lingering friendship
and picnicing in the park at solstice noon, kissing male
beauties icy as the winter moon. Don't be shy
(especially about your looks). Drawer E499.

ATTRACTIVE, Bl MALE, 32, F/A, G/P, J/O,
seeks a gentle friend who can entertain. Age, looks
not important. Photoand phone appreciated. Discre-
tion assured. Drawer E495.

REMEMBER THOSE HOT SCENES, we had as
teenagers? Ask your mom if you can stay over at my
place some night. We'll sneak some of my dad's beer,
strip down to our jockeys and see if we've learned any
new tricks over the years. Fantasy, role-playing, J/O
and more. 32, 6' 155 lbs, clean, healthy, discreet.
Drawer E496.

MALE, 48, seeks friend 30-70, any race, for friend-
ship and sensuous, erotic J/O sessions together.
Please write with phone number. Drawer E497.

NEW TO TORONTO, 26, 6' 150 lbs, dark brown
hair, brown eyes, trim beard, non-smoker. Enjoys
meeting people. Loves travel. My interests include
arts, theatre, body-building, cooking, etc.... My
weakness is Italian, Greek, and Portuguese men.
Write Box 6427, Stn A, Toronto M5W 1X3.

CREWCUTS WANTED! Horny, well-hung young
guy likes 'em short-haired or shaven. Details unim-
portant. Adventurous only need apply with picture
and phone. Shave, mister? Drawer E188.

WELL. I'm an art student and I'm tall and I'm thin
and I'm 22 and I wear glasses. Sometimes I have curly
hair and sometimes I don't and sometimes I shave and
sometimes I don't. I stay up late and wander the
streets looking at guys and sometimes I pick them up.
Keep a nice kid off the streets. Write Drawer E500.

GAY HARLEY RIDER SEEKS SAME

GWM, 6' 170 lbs, 37, greasy hair, full beard. Send
photo and phone number. Drawer E5 1 1 .

CONFIDENT, sensible, intelligent, attractive man
with sense of humour and strength of character and
maturity — seeks same 21-29 years of age. Not into
bars or baths. No one-nighters. 922-2996.

PASSIONATE KISSES and tender embraces are of
utmost importance in love-making! Agree?
Masculine, well-endowed, young man seeks you.
Answer all. Drawer E469.

IS THERE ANOTHER GUY who trains at Nautilus
Plus who would like to work out with me occasional-
ly? I'm 23, clean-cut and in this case, absolutely
discreet. Drawer E474.

GWM, 40, LOVE TO WEAR GARTER BELTS,
panties, baby dolls, etc. Want to meet a man who can
give sweet discipline. If you're right and you love to
spank my buns or other favours, send letter and
phone number. Drawer E475.

WISH TO MEET AND KNOW MALE 35-45,
Niagara-Toronto area. You are extrovert, your own
man, dominant, masculine, warm, considerate,
bodybuilder, enjoys city/country setting, not captive
of any role. Jeans /leather. From you as role model, I,
GWM 43, wish to learn, emulate, develop revised
style of life. Photo appreciated. Drawer E503.

BUSY, PROFFESIONAL MALE, 35, 5'3" 120 lbs,
quiet, gentle, masculine, but with a wonderful sense
of humour, would like to share intimate moments
with a clean, attractive, French-speaking counter-
part. Interests include sex (especially 69 and Greek ac-
tive), fitness, the arts, and learning. Am not interested
in bars or drugs. Discretion absolue. Please reply with
photo, phone and letter in French. Drawer E504.

GWM, 39, 145 lbs, 5'9", out of town, seeks same to
visit for a few days, on occasion. Regular guy,
masculine, like me, sought for friendship. Drawer
ES08.

HANDSOME AIRLINE CAPTAIN

INTO SHORTS, DENIM, jockstraps, uniforms,
5' 11" 165 lbs, 32 yrs. Explore my shining zipper
before taking my beautiful, thick, cock. Phone,
photo. Drawer E509.

BOOTS AND LEATHER

MARRIED GWM, 5'11" 165 lbs, 50, wants friend-
ship and affection with married or single gay, turned
on by boots and leather. Toronto, Mississauga,
Halton Hills. Drawer E510

SUNTANNING BUDDY and summer friend would
be great: The perfect dream. GQ type male seeks
same. Box 921, Stn A, Toronto.

STINKING PIG TOP IN LEATHER

WANTS STINKING PIG BOTTOM. 37, 6' 170 lbs,
beard. Photo/phone. Box 1114, Stn. F, Toronto.

LONELY GAY MALE, 40, 5'5" 130 lbs, physically
fit, masculine, affectionate, active, seeks same for
lasting relationship. Drawer E354.

MALE, LATE 50s, seeks experienced and active male
fishing companion for weekday get togethers. Send
detailed letter (o Steven, PO Box 2913, Stn F, Scar-
borough, Ml W 2K0.

GAY, 5'6" 128 lbs, 27 years old, brown skin, seeks
other gays for good, clean fun. Interested in movies,
concerts, dancing, listening to records. Phone
number, letter. Drawer E482.

FUN LOVING

GOM, EARLY 30s, professional, interested in all
quality things in life, specially sincere, honest, secure
persons. Am interested to meet someone who would
like to share these qualities and more. Reply with
photos and phone numbers. Drawer E483.

GWM, 50s, quiet masculine professional, non-pro-
miscuous, would like to give head on a regular basis to
a very well-hung guy; no reciprocation. Drawer E040.

PUNKS: If you're young, kinky, into ass and horny
all the time, I want to meet you. I'm 6' 155 lbs, 37 and
hot. Punks get preference. Drawer E468.

YOUNG-LOOKING COUPLE, early 30s, seeks

young, non-smoking friend for quiet evenings. Possi-
ble weekend camping trips, fishing, walking, BHQs,
etc. For quick reply, send short introductory letter
with photo to: P O Box 5228, Postal Station A, Tor-
onto M5W IN5.

gay . . . got a
drinking problem?

(416) 964-3962

OR WRITE BOX "A" 730 BATHURST STREET.
TORONTO, ONTARIO M5S 2R4

IHK TOOLBOX

AT 18 EASTERN AVE., TORONTO

869-9294

Mon Fri: 5 pm - 1 am Sat: Noon 1 am Sun: Noon - 11 pm

Thursday is Club Night...

Saturdays: Free pool until 4 pm...

Happy Hour daily: Beer $1.25...

Dinner every night, 5-10 pm, from $2.50

$3.95 Sunday Brunch, noon - 3 pm
where real men do eat quiche!

Where the men come to play

:N<

Editor^

D.Sta

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■ payment DY order JVM

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P R I APE

le sex-shop gal 1661 est, SteCatherlne, Montreal. Que. H2L 2J5 521-6451

THE BODY POLITIC ["] JULY/AUGUST 1984 □ 47

XXX

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48 □ THE BODY POLITIC D JULY /AUGUST 1984

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STALLION'S TOP 50 SPECIAL

Order: 1 title at $34.95, including shipping

2 titles at $32.95 each, including shipping

3 or more at only $29.95 each, incl. shipping

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n 50

A Matter of Size

Huge no. 2

Winner's Circle (new listing)

Leo & Lance (new listing)

Malibu Days, Big Bear Nights

Best Little Warehouse in L.A.

For Members Only

Games

Al Parker's Turned On

. Falcon Videopac no. 24 ("Style")

. The Other Side of Aspen

Good Times Cumming (Lance)

Greenhorn (Western)

Seven in a Barn (J. Brian)
. Huge no. 1

. El Paso Wrecking Corp. (Joe Gage)
. Nights in Black Leather (Peter Berlin)
. Johnny Harden & Friends (new listing)
. Tuesday Morning Workout (J. Brian)
. Printer's Devils (William Higgins)
. The Idol

. Wet Shorts (award)
. Pacific Coast Highway
. The Boys of Venice
. The Boys of San Francisco
. These Bases Are Loaded
. The Diary (Toby Ross)
. Brothers Should Do It
. All Tied Up (Arch Brown)
. Cell Block no. 9
. Jeff Noll's Buddies
. Centurians of Rome
. Kept After School (Nova)
. Against the Rules
. Teenage Handymen
. A Night at Halsted's
. Cruisin' The Castro (new listing)
. New York City Pro (Leo Ford)
. Rear Deliveries
. The Class of '84, Part 2
. Revenge of the Nighthawk
. The Class of '84, Part 1
. Hot Shots (Casey Donovan)
. Pegasus

. Eyes of a Stranger
. L.A. Tool & Die (Joe Gage)
. Up 'n' Cumming
. American Cream (Uniforms)
. Roommates (Kip Noll)
. Orgy (Christopher Rage) (new listing)

TO ORDER: Send this list with the order form and

receive a 75-page illustrated catalogue.

PROFESSIONAL GWM, 38, 190 lbs 6'4", seeks
young man over 21 for hoi times. I am into most
things and love spanking. Discretion assured and ex-
pected. Drawer E162.

GWM, 25, 5'9", slim, professional, straight-looking
and acting, seeks similar guys under 30 for fun,
friendship and ? Photo and phone. Drawer E396.

IS IT RIGHT TO LET other people say you have to
be 2 1 years old to have fun? Blond male, 29, 5' 1 1 " 165
lbs, wishes to meet younger male for fun and hopeful-
ly a relationship. I want someone to love and to love
me. If you think you are that someone, please write.
Try to add phone and photo. Discretion on my side
assured. Drawer E462.

GAY MALE COUPLE

GAY MALE COUPLE, 20s, slim, attractive, mous-
taches, one with beard, well-hung, masculine, versa-
tile, seek similar singles or couples, 21-35, for good
times. Photo and phone. Drawer E460.

BIKE LEATHER

WM, 26, 5' 10" 1 50 lbs, live 25 minutes north of Tor-
onto, music new-wave, punk, clean-cut (not cock),
self-employed, non-smoking toke AOK, sunbathing,
car, motorcycle, jacket, pants, gloves, boots, helmet.
Leather. Sex passively aggressive. I want the same,
friend. Photos and number cum quick time. Drawer
E464.

A QUIET, STABLE, YOUNGER PERSON to 30
may often benefit from the friendship of a sincere
older man. Media-Librarian. Cool, easy-going
straight appearance, good-natured, discreet, mentor,
balanced, 43. 6', nice-looking. Interests: Spectator
sports, Techno-Pop to Bach and Rock, sociology,
movies the 994 kind, Frisbee, electronics, auto mech-
anics, video to board games, denim, plays, pen-pals,
dining, countryside, fireplaces, conversations, garage
sales. Not into: Beards, dancing, kinks, drugs, tubs,
pubs, clubs, shrubs, chubbies and dishonesty.
Drawer E465.

GENTLE MAN, 46, 200 lbs, 6', intelligent, honest,
quiet, likes travel, plays, art, music, long walks, con-
versation, affection. Seeks vibrant thinking partner
with interests beyond numbers and crotches for frien-
ship, not one night stands. Box 1056, Stn Q, Toronto
M4T 2P2.

GAY WHITE PROFESSIONAL MALE

Age 30, lives downtown, good job, stable, seeks same
25-32. Am sincere, somewhat shy, conservative, good
sense of humour. Enjoy most sports, bowling,
movies, quiet times, good friends, going out
weekends. Only clean, down-to-earth sincere people
who believe in one to one relationships should res-
pond. Reply with telephone number and phone if
available. Drawer E370.

GWM, 35, GOOD LOOKING, masculine type,
5*11" 160, wants to service hot, masculine guys. Let
me suck you while you drive around. Let eat your ass.
Do things to me. Let's go to unusual locations. Let's
really get into it. Whatever scene you want. Drawer
E484.

HOT TIMES COMING!

GWM, BLOND, MASCULINE, 38, 6'0" 170 lbs,
seeks fun friend, 21-40. Interests include talking,
VCR, cuddling, toys, fantasy, and/or stimulants.
Curious? Do it! Drawer E485.

VERSATILE, GWM, 31, 5'8" 130 lbs. Interest in
outdoors, languages, theatre, travel, and cuddling.
Seeks same to spend pleasant times together. Send
photo if possible. Drawer E486.

CUDDLY MALE, NICE SMILE, weightlifter's
build. Various spiritual, cultural, and athletic in-
terests. Seeks another for friendship and/or relation-
ship. Drawer E519.

NICE JEWISH BOY seeks good-looking leather/
preppie WASP, 20s to 30s, for adventurous friend-
ship. I'm 34, 5'8" 140 lbs and considered to be in good
shape. Imagination, sense of humour, intelligence
and an interest in good sex a necessity. Detailed letter
and photo appreciated. Drawer E517.

GAY TRANSVESTITE would like to meet same and
others for mutual enjoyment. Write: Boxholder, PO
Box 1293, Stn A, Toronto ON M5W 1G7.

GWM, 21, BROWN SHORT HAIR, 5'10" 160 lbs.
clean-shaven, sincere, kind, gentle. Would like to
meet same. PO Box 5423, Stn A, Toronto, ON
M5W 1N6.

WELL-HUNG TOP wants trim arses, hanging balls,
for hard workout. Limits respected. Recent facial
photo a must. Me: slim, trim, 40. Drawer E515.

FUN-LOVING SLIM GWM, 36, would liketomeet a
slim male to explore the possibility of building a
monogamous love relationship. Must enjoy movies,
videos, music, food, making love, laughing,
togetherness and old-fashioned romance. Write me...
Let's love! Drawer E5I4.

SOUTHERN ONTARIO ~

SLIM KITCHENER MALE intogolfing and the out-
doors seeks males under 23 for good times. Drawer
ES07.

GWM, FORTIES, masculine, clean, discreet, no
drugs, no S/M, well-hung, horny, JO fantasy would
like to meet same, big cocks, dominant. Am curious
about BD, WS, other. Frank letter, all answered. Box
178, Slrcctsvillc I.5M IL0.

WELL-ESTABLISHED GWM

45, slim, 5*10" 133 lbs, good-looking, sincere, eas)
going, varied interests. Waterloo area Seeks amac
inc. slim, younger GWM, 18-25. for companionship,
meaningful relationship Send photo if possible,

■

PASSING BY oi Hvin| here? Resi vacation: at
comodation Bi| deei and watct park and orchard
in-. u Write i loyd, 13 Richmond St, < haiharn ON

N7M INf>

CARING GUY

TALL. ATTRACTIVE, YOUNG 40s, 180 lbs, mous-
tache, searching for friendship, and if lucky, a mon-
ogamous, committed relationship with a clean, car-
ing, slim, passive guy. I am decent, creative, talented,
warm, witty, cuddly, romantic, fun-loving and like-
able, with varied interests. 1 believe in lovemaking
with feeling, enjoy quiet evenings at home, entertain-
ing friends, drives and picnics, flea-markets plants
and life in general. Box 241 1 , Stn B, Kitchener.

I'M INTO the new-wave scene. I like the clothes and
the music. Seeking males under 25 for a good time,
Kitchener area. Drawer E505.

YOU WEAR LEATHER pants/jocks, slowly I peel
them off with my mouth and then take care of what-
ever pops out with my hot moist mouth. I'm looking
for male students in college or university. I'm 23, 5'8"
and a 160 lb firm body from working out in the local
gym. Drawer E506

MAN, 39, SEEKS OTHER MAN for a buddy-
friendship and sharing. 25-42, must be mature, warm,
fun, caring, intelligent and financially independent.
Sincere replies only. Drawer E518.

OSHAWA AREA

I WOULD LIKE TO MEET other gays for a summer
of sun and fun and whatever else develops. Any age,
any race, any size. There doesn't seem to be many of
us in the East. Let's make it a summer together. Box
1 166, Adelaide PO, Toronto, ON M5C 2K5.

EASTERN ONTARIO

PETERBOROUGH AND AREA

MALE 28, straight acting/appearing, looking for
another open, honest, discreet, older guy to explore
intimacy, closeness, warmth. Let's talk then see what
happens. Write to Occupant, PO Box 91, Peterbor-
ough, ON K9J 6Y5.

OTTAWA

MUSCLES TURN ME ON OTTAWA AREA
GWM, 36, WANTS TO worship you. W/S possible.
Write with photo. All answered . I can travel. Give me
my orders now. Drawer E471.

MALE, 39, PROFESSIONAL, 5', brown hair,
brown eyes. Medium build. Wishes to meet attrac-
tive, younger male. No moustaches. Photo a must
before a meeting. Drop me a line to PO Box 2934, Stn
D, Ottawa, ON KIP 5W9.

YOUNG STUDENT OR WORKER wishing good
times, discrete relation with mature person: teacher,
46, wishes to meet you now. Drawer E267.

DEEP-THROAT EXPERT seeks challenging, ap-
preciative partners, gay or straight. I am young, at-
tractive, and tireless. Reply: Box 25, Stn A, Ottawa
ONK1N8V1.

SPANKINGS. Take this 29 year-old, paddle his hair-
less bottom. Ottawa, Toronto and between. Your
place only please. Drawer E359.

LEATHER BOTTOM WANTED

VERSATILE, sometimes bottom, sane, 49, attrac-
tive GWM looking for masculine bottom. Age unim-
portant. Limits respected. Drawer E477.

CAMPING— OUTDOOR SPORTS COUPLE

IN OTTAWA he's 25 1 am 36 GYM . Love to camp in
woods on Grotch Lake Hwy 509 area. Would like to
meet other couples for good times together. We are
new to Ottawa. We enjoy a somewhat open relation-
ship, but respect all. Plan trip in July. Drawer E470.

HANDSOME GWM, 25, dark hair, 5'10" 145 lbs,
good physique, non-smoker, French. Hope to meet
mature, sensitive, understanding man around my age
for a committed relationship. I need someone who is
looking for more in life than one-night stands and
who is willing to truly give of himself totally to the
right person. Communication is very important for
me. My interests are dancing, photography, swim-
ming and 1 am willing to try most anything once. Also
would like to have penpals. Sincerely, Box 3234, Stn
D.Ottawa, ON K1P6H8.

MONTREAL

GWM, 29, 5'8" 150 lbs, masculine, friendly, honest
and understanding, seeking male 18-30 of same type
for friendship or relationship. Not into bar scenes or
drugs. Drawer E145.

PASSIONATE, HORNY, sexy, healthy 37-year-old
gay male, recovering from AIDS, would like to meet
men aged 30- SO for sex and friendship. Drawer I 4s"

NEW BRUNSWICK

YOUTHFUL. MASCULINE, SUPER-ACTIVE
outdoorsman, trained naturalist, 47. 5' 10" 150 lbs,
w ill share my knowledge of wildflowcrs, mushrooms,
birds, gardening, camping, backpacking, health, tru-
ly erotic loving and much more with any serious guy.
Drawer E467.

rMOVASCOTIA

29-YEAR-OLD MALE between Digby and i.ii
mouth. Not into heas > se\ hut likes male companion
for good clean fun. Cuddling and conversation my
specially. Omsk meeting possible Drawei E260

LITHE. TANNED, bearded 15, Ctt M has light ass
needing Full and pan -time servicing Mso like to meet
JO friends toi mutual pleasures. Hi and married most
welcome Can entertain and will travel to ihc right
contacts. Mammies and I astern Canada US Photo
please Discretion assured, all answered Drawer
MSI

DIGBY COUNTY NUDIST

I'd love to «.iik around naked with sou i am
enjo) showing raj bods Would you show me yours?
I'm sincere, kind, intelligent, and no) into kini

1 el's dial in tht nude and cnios Ourselves looking at
cash Olliei Diawct I 4S~

THL BODY POLITIC I 1 JULY/AUGUST 19N4 4V

troducing

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50 □ THE BODY POLITIC □ JULY /AUGUST 1984

THE BACK PAGE

EDNA BARKER:

I bought my first ever gay paper in
the middle of a blizzard, in 1977. 1
was working in an office at the
time, and (except for agonizing
crushes on three of my female co-
workers) was living a completely hetero-
sexual life. All my friends were straight
(they were all women, too, which should
have told me something). I owned a
dress. I had a "boyfriend," who lived
across the hall. I sat around at lunch and
listened to the women from the office
discuss men. They all (at lunchtime, any-
way) had their problems with men —
hated them, would never sleep with them
again. I fit right in.

But something was missing. Part ol the
problem was my conviction that all men
were from Mars, which, while it gained
me attention at luncheon conversations,
did not sit well with the fellow across the
hall, who finally gave up on me and
moved to British Columbia. Suddenly I
was without status at the office, shunned
at lunchtime, no longer part of the group.
The idea of locating another Martian and
trying to fool everyone into believing I
believed in such a relationship over-
whelmed me; I couldn't go through with
it. A sex-change operation? I didn't like
men, couldn't relate to them, so why
would I want to be one? I didn't know
what to do.

•
In the end it was my friend Miss V who
helped me out. Miss V lived around the
corner from me, had for years, and
probably suspected that at least a few of
our "chance" encounters on the street
had been engineered. She had long ago
made her own orientation clear. One of
her two roommates in college had spent a
weekend in New York and returned with
news of all the latest fashions, one of
which was lesbianism. The three of them
had adopted the straight-legged jeans
and the plastic shoes but had collapsed
into helpless giggles in their attempts to
be sexually fashionable. (Essentially my
response to Martians; I could sympa-
thize.) However, Miss V had enthusias-
tically continued to monitor fashions
over the years, and was willing to share
her information; I, in turn, was welcome
to report discoveries to her. One of the
first things she told me about was a
magazine — a local magazine, no less —
called The Body Politic.

And so my course was clear: 1 would
do whatever I had to do in order to be-
come a "gay person," and I would tell
Miss V all about it. It was obvious to mc
even then that the appeal for me in all of
this was telling Miss V all about it. The
rest would have to be got through some-
how, if only so that I would have some-
thing to report. I would start by obtain-

HyiAM

NOT

A FAGGOT

ing a copy of that magazine — an easy
task, I thought. I would worry about the
next step later.

•
It took me three weeks to buy that first
issue, and I wasn't exactly sure what to
do with it after I got it home. I stared at
the zucchini on the cover for a while,
then glanced at the classified-ad section.
What was "GWM"? What was "FA/GP"?
Would I ever know enough to be a gay

person? I decided I didn't want to know
what the people who wrote this strange
magazine wanted me to do with the zuc-
chini, but I found the list of places to call
for help, and copied out two numbers.
One only worked on Tuesday nights, but
if I called a woman would answer. I
waited till Tuesday and started dialing. I
got a busy signal for hours. I waited a
week and tried again: busy. I called the
other number, Toronto Area Gays.

The man who answered the TAG tele-
phone was incredible. In my terror at ac-
tually speaking to a real live gay person,
I was rendered totally inarticulate. My
telephone friend coaxed, cajoled and
counseled me as though I were a timid
teenager, which was exactly what I need-
ed. It turned out he thought I was a teen-
ager, since he had assumed I was male
but my voice was not that of a grown-up
man. Women, he explained to me,
didn't often call the line, and because
they mostly got calls from men, the
group was mostly set up for men. But I
was welcome to come to

a meeting, he said; the group would like it
if women would come.

I arrived a half-hour late; the meeting
had already started. I found a seat in a
corner. After about fifteen minutes I
found the courage to look around the
room. Eighteen other people, and, as my
telephone friend had warned me, they
were all men. After a while I became
aware that I was receiving more than
casual glances from some of the men in
the room. They were looking at me.
Some of them were staring at me.

I was working out my escape route
when one of the men chairing the meet-
ing said introductions should be re-
peated because so many people had
arrived late. We would go around the
room, he said, and give our names and
some information about ourselves —
why we were at the meeting, where we
worked, whatever. When it was my turn
I could feel eighteen pairs of eyes
directed at me. I cleared my throat.
"My name is Edna," I said, "and I'm a
girl. There was a collective sigh of
disappointment.

Although I has masquerad-
ed as a straight person for
years, I had never quite mas-
tered the trick of adopting
— or even predicting —
those emotions or responses
straight women were likely to
come up with. I was eager to tell
Miss V about the meeting, about walk-
ing around the block for half an hour,
afraid to go in, about what everyone had
said. But I never got that far with the
story. "You were the only woman in a
room with eighteen men?" she asked,
and I heard envy in her voice. "Eighteen
men? And you went home alone?"

I know I felt overwhelming fear, that
year, of what I was trying to do. I re-
member the first time I tried to say "I
am a lesbian." I couldn't manage it even
if I was the only person in the room. It's
easier now — I've had lots of practice —
and I hardly ever stammer and mumble
and blush. But I am starting to be con-
cerned about the words people use to
describe me. Eight years ago, had some-
one called me a faggot, I likely would
have prayed for the earth to swallow me
up. Not these days. A few weeks ago a
straight man confronted me at a street-
car stop.

"Faggot," he said, spitting at my feet.

'•What?"

"Fuckin* faggot," he jeered, spitting
again.

"I'm not a faggot, you jerk."' I
shouted. "I'm not a faggot, I'm a
dyke!"D

POLITIC [ i JULY/AUGUST 1984 D 51

DECISION S*D E C I S I 0 N S

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